Amazon’s Jassy backs Alexa for Shopping as users top 400 million

Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said on 29 October that more than 400 million customers had used Alexa for Shopping in the preceding 12 months, up from 350 million at the end of July, and that he believed it would be their primary shopping agent, Modern Retail reported. Speaking on Amazon’s third-quarter earnings call, Jassy said the company also expected to work with broader AI agents that can shop across retailers.

Alexa for Shopping reaches 400 million customers

Alexa for Shopping is Amazon’s conversational shopping assistant. The company introduced it as Rufus in February 2024 and renamed it in May 2026, adopting the name of its voice assistant. Amazon has since made the shopping service more prominent on its website and app, according to Modern Retail.

Jassy said customers who use Alexa for Shopping spend 50% more than those who do not. That comparison concerns spending by the two groups of customers, while the 400 million figure counts people who used the assistant at least once during the 12-month period.

Amazon announced more than 100 new Alexa for Shopping capabilities on 29 October ahead of the holiday shopping period. They include creating and editing gift lists and registries, as well as managing Subscribe and Save orders. Shoppers can use the assistant to pause or cancel certain subscriptions.

Those additions give Amazon more tasks for its own assistant to handle within the store. Jassy said he expected cooperation with horizontal agents, but believed customers would chiefly use Alexa for Shopping when buying from Amazon. The position leaves room for outside services while keeping Amazon’s assistant at the centre of the shopping experience Jassy described.

Amazon’s $201.9 billion quarter

Amazon reported third-quarter net sales of $201.9 billion, 12% higher than a year earlier. Its Online Stores revenue rose 2%, compared with 10% growth in the third quarter of 2025. Modern Retail reported that the timing of Prime Day affected the annual comparison: the shopping event fell in the second quarter of 2026, rather than the third quarter as it had in 2025.

Third-party seller services revenue grew 9%, against 12% in the corresponding period a year earlier. Advertising services grew 11%, compared with 24% a year earlier. Amazon Web Services reported segment sales growth of 39% year on year. The earnings figures place Jassy’s comments about shopping agents alongside slower growth in several of Amazon’s retail-related businesses.

Advertising is one reason outside agents matter commercially to Amazon. Software that buys on a customer’s behalf could reduce visits to the pages where Amazon sells advertisements, GeekWire reported in an earnings preview published on 28 October. The report said Amazon’s advertising revenue had risen 26% to $19.8 billion in the preceding quarter.

Amazon blocks Muse from its store

Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse shopping agent from its store in September. Amazon said Muse had breached its requirement that agents identify themselves, GeekWire reported. Amazon has also blocked platforms including ChatGPT from scraping its site.

Retailers are taking different approaches to agents acting for shoppers. Walmart opened its site to AI shopping agents with spending controls, AI Affairs reported. Amazon’s restrictions, meanwhile, set a condition on how an outside agent can access its store, even as Jassy anticipates working with such services.

Before Amazon’s results, Wedbush analyst Ygal Arounian wrote in a 16 October note that he saw limited risk from shopping agents, citing Amazon’s logistics advantage and its role connecting buyers and sellers. On 29 October, Jassy set out Amazon’s preferred customer route: Alexa for Shopping would be the primary agent used to shop its store, while the company expected to work with horizontal agents.