Overview

Amazon’s AI‑driven shopping assistant, Rufus, is now available to all U.S. shoppers and offers a suite of tools that let users track price trends, set automatic purchase thresholds, and discover deals across Amazon and third‑party retailers. For sellers, the expanded capabilities mean tighter price competition, new visibility channels, and fresh ways to engage price‑sensitive buyers.

Key Points

• 30‑ and 90‑day price charts — Rufus can pull a product’s recent pricing data and present the highest, lowest, and current prices over the past month and quarter, letting shoppers judge whether a deal is genuine.
• Automated price alerts and auto‑buy — Users can tell Rufus to watch a specific price point (e.g., “Notify me when this blender drops to $45”) and, once the target is met, the assistant can complete the purchase with the buyer’s saved payment method.
• Personalized deal hunting — By scanning a shopper’s wish list, browsing history, and prior orders, Rufus surfaces discounts that match individual preferences, such as “Your favorite brand of running shoes is 20 % off today.”
• Photo‑based product search — Uploading an image triggers Rufus to locate similar items, filter by price range, and suggest alternatives, turning visual inspiration into a searchable query.
• Handwritten list transcription — A snapshot of a scribbled grocery note is converted into cart items automatically, removing the manual entry step.
• Shop Direct beyond Amazon — Rufus displays comparable products sold on external e‑commerce sites, and for select items it can execute a “Buy For Me” transaction using the shopper’s Amazon credentials.

How Rufus Works

1. Initiate a query — The user opens the Rufus chat bubble in the Amazon Shopping app or on the desktop site and types or speaks a request, such as “Show me the price history of the Echo Show 8.” Rufus pulls the last 30 days and 90 days of pricing data from Amazon’s catalog and returns a concise table.
2. Set a price trigger — After reviewing the history, the shopper adds a condition: “Alert me when the Echo Show 8 is $80 or less.” Rufus records the target, stores the product ID, and begins periodic price checks against Amazon’s live listings.