By Angela Palumbo
Amazon.com's upcoming Prime Day will be a litmus test for the kind of boost agentic shopping tools can have on the e-commerce company moving forward.
Prime Day is a sales event for Amazon Prime members. This year, Prime Day will run from June 23 to June 26, giving members four days to check out deals on a laundry list of items, including clothes, electronics, beauty products, and more.
Prime Day has become incredibly important for Amazon as the website tends to see a boost in online spending during the event. According to Adobe's latest Prime Day forecast report, average daily online spend during the event is expected to be 84% higher than overall average daily spending in June.
This upcoming Prime Day event is about more than just boosting online sales for Amazon as consumers look for discounts amid continued spending pains. This is the first Prime Day event that Amazon will host since the tech giant launched Alexa for Shopping in May.
Alexa for Shopping is a new AI assistant that customers can use when browsing for products on the Amazon website and app. This was a major update from Amazon's previous generative AI chatbot Rufus, as Alexa for Shopping can take actions for the customer, like putting something into their cart or tracking price changes on items.
Not only is the Amazon investing massive amounts of capital to build the physical infrastructure to power AI, but the company is also spending big on developing its own AI technology. Investors are hoping to see returns on these investments. This includes getting proof that shoppers are spending more on the Amazon website thanks to an improved shopping experience brought on by something like the Alexa for Shopping assistant.
BofA Securities analyst Justin Post is confident that Prime Day will show that Alexa for Shopping will lead to increased consumer spending. He believes that Alexa for Shopping will be an "essential tool in protecting direct traffic for Amazon, as well as enabling higher conversion rates and driving incremental spend on the platform."
Alexa for Shopping driving sales during the Prime Day event has long lasting positive implications. Post wrote that he thinks the AI assistant can generate over $200 billion in incremental gross merchandise value by 2035 and $20 billion of incremental retail profit.
Amazon launching the Alexa assistant also comes at a time where more people are using AI for their everyday shopping needs. According to a recent Adobe survey of 5,000 U.S. shoppers, 39% of consumers say they have used AI before for online shopping, with 85% of them saying it improved their experience.
"These figures highlight the durable value that AI is delivering in the e-commerce space, shortening the time it takes for consumers to find what they need or locate relevant discounts," the report said.
Strong AI usage data could give Amazon stock a much-needed boost. Shares have risen 1.7% this year, far underperforming the 9.2% gain of the S&P 500.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2026 13:31 ET (17:31 GMT)
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