A few days ago, we reported that the vast majority of American online shoppers were unaware of the existence of Rufus, the AI assistant that Amazon launched just over a year ago. This is a surprising statistic, considering Rufus’s apparent visibility in the upper left corner of Amazon’s website and its growing presence in user comments and reviews. Perhaps to address this, and with the goal of providing greater influence to the assistant in the purchasing process, the marketplace has just announced a series of significant changes to Rufus.
Amazon appears to have listened to one of the market’s main criticisms (that the tool was interesting but had little impact on improving the purchasing process) and has released the most significant update to Rufus to date. The objective is clear: to move beyond being a simple chatbot that answers questions and become an Agentic AI, capable of executing actions on your behalf.
Here, we explain the key new features that are radically transforming this tool.
Perhaps the most relevant innovation is Rufus’s change of role. Until now, Rufus focused on providing information to those visiting the marketplace. With the new update, Rufus can act directly to carry out purchases (for Prime Members only). Thus, Amazon has introduced agentic capabilities that enable the assistant to manage transactions from start to finish.
For instance, its new autonomous purchasing function allows you to request something like “Buy these headphones when they drop by 30%” or “Purchase it if the price falls below $15”. Rufus will monitor the price and execute the purchase automatically, sending you a notification (with a free cancellation option within 24 hours if you change your mind).
If you prefer not to make purchases autonomously, customers will have the option to set up a price alert to receive a notification when a product reaches a target price, thereby turning Rufus into a price tracker. As Amazon explains: “Our AI shopping assistant now displays a 30-day and 90-day price history so customers can quickly assess previous prices and immediately know if they are getting a good deal. They simply need to ask Rufus for the price history when searching for an item.”
On another note, if you are someone who writes their shopping list by hand on paper, you now have the option to upload a photo of that list. Rufus will recognize the products and add them all to your digital cart in one go, though this feature will initially be available only on iOS.
To combat mistrust and skepticism toward Rufus, Amazon has integrated the RAG technique (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). This means that when you ask about trends or quality, Rufus will not only consult Amazon’s data but will also refer to external authoritative sources such as The New York Times or Vogue. This serves to validate the assistant’s responses with high-quality journalism, which is particularly crucial for purchases in fashion or technology.
But Rufus now goes further than direct sales. You can upload a photo of a stained carpet and ask: “How do I remove this coffee stain?” In a manner similar to Google Lens, the AI will analyze the fabric and the stain, offer cleaning advice, and suggest the exact products for the task. You will also be able to use visual search by uploading photos to locate similar products, and you may further enrich your search with complex commands, as shown in the image.
As we mentioned, the study on Amazon indicated that customers did not perceive a significant improvement in their experience when using this assistant. Amazon addresses this weakness by equipping Rufus with “account memory”. In this way, you will no longer need to provide context in every conversation: Rufus will remember details you have previously shared or information deduced from your past purchases.
For example:
In addition, Amazon promises that in the coming months this memory will be extended to Kindle, Prime Video, and Audible, transforming Rufus into a unique assistant for the entire Amazon universe, not just the store.
Let us take a moment to engage in speculation. 😉 This omnipresence of Rufus raises questions regarding the future of Alexa, Amazon’s renowned voice assistant. In its statement, Amazon mentions that Rufus will be integrated with Kindle, Audible, and Prime Video. What is missing? Amazon Music and Smart Home, which are currently Alexa’s domain. The company has not provided any hints about this, but one might imagine that in the future the “Rufus” brand could disappear or remain only as the chat icon, and that Amazon’s “intelligence” would be represented as a single entity that responds to you as “Alexa” when you speak. What is clear is that Amazon needs Rufus to succeed in order to justify the existence of Echo devices. Without a sales engine like Rufus behind it, Alexa becomes an excessively expensive luxury for Amazon.
And indeed, Alexa does have purchasing features, but you cannot say: “Find headphones that are better than the Sony ones I viewed yesterday, but cost less than $100 and are suitable for running.” Such a request would overwhelm it. In contrast, Rufus understands context, compares specifications, reads reviews, and provides you with a well-reasoned answer. And thanks to its agentic capabilities, it can now also handle the purchasing process for you.
Amazon has confirmed that these updates are already being rolled out, both in the Amazon application and its desktop version. Although the rollout is global, the most advanced features (such as integration with U.S. news sources or certain autonomous purchasing capabilities) typically launch first in the United States and United Kingdom, then gradually expand to Europe (Spain, Germany, France, Italy). Therefore, we must wait to see when we may access them.
As you can see, Amazon seeks to close the gap between discovery and action, making the buyer’s journey significantly easier. While Rufus previously appeared to be a curiosity ignored by most of the world, it is now positioned as a tool capable of tracking prices and (in theory) helping to save both time and money by purchasing independently.
It remains to be seen whether users will trust AI enough to hand over the keys to their credit cards with the automatic purchasing feature.
Images: Amazon
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