Amazon has recently added a new feature to its AI shopping assistant, "Alexa for Shopping," allowing users to view price history for products over a maximum period of 365 days. This enhancement helps consumers more accurately determine the optimal time to make a purchase.
The feature provides price trends over 30 days, 90 days, and a full year. Users can access this data by clicking on "Price History" on a product page or by directly asking Alexa. Amazon has stated that this functionality is now available for millions of products across several markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and India. Since the price history feature was launched in 2024, it has been used by over 50 million users, with an average of about three queries per user each month.
Alexa for Shopping is the new generation of AI shopping assistant that Amazon.com (AMZN) introduced in May of this year, replacing the previous Rufus chatbot. The new assistant combines the product expertise of Rufus with the personalized capabilities of Alexa+, and it is available for free to users without requiring a Prime membership or an Echo device.
Beyond price history checks, Alexa for Shopping also supports functions such as product comparisons, price drop alerts, and automatic reordering. Users can set price thresholds, and when a product's price falls to the target level, Alexa can automatically place the order. Additionally, the assistant can facilitate purchases from other online retailers through its "Buy for Me" feature.
Analysts note that the addition of the 365-day price history feature equips Alexa with the capability to compete with third-party price tracking tools in assisting shopping decisions. It also provides a powerful price comparison tool for the upcoming Prime Day sales event.
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