Amazon has launched several new generative AI-powered tools that streamline sellers’ businesses
E-commerce giant Amazon unveils five generative AI tools, potentially reshaping the landscape for sellers and shoppers on its platform
What if an artificial intelligence could manage your online business, create your product listings and even design your advertisements? This scenario is rapidly becoming a reality as Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, has rolled out a suite of new generative AI (Gen AI) tools aimed at revolutionizing how sellers operate on its platform and how customers shop.
The tech giant is leveraging advancements in Gen AI to assist sellers in managing their operations more efficiently and help customers find products more easily.
At the heart of this AI-driven initiative is a pressing question: Can these technologies truly level the playing field for small and medium-sized businesses competing against larger, more resource-rich rivals on Amazon’s platform?
Mary Beth Westmoreland, Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Experience at Amazon, believes so. “Amazon sellers, many of whom are small and medium-sized businesses, manage complex operations, including overseeing supply chains, managing inventory, forecasting sales, building brand recognition and so much more,” she said on an Amazon blog. “With Gen AI, Amazon is streamlining these efforts, giving sellers more time back to focus on inventing even more incredible products that delight customers.”
Streamlining seller operations
One of the key innovations is Project Amelia, a generative AI assistant designed to provide personalised support to Amazon sellers. The tool, currently in beta testing with a select group of US-based merchants, offers instant access to sales metrics, business insights, and tailored recommendations.
Project Amelia delivers a personal Amazon selling expert that understands a seller’s unique business
Project Amelia is designed to understand each seller’s unique business context, allowing it to provide relevant advice and insights. For instance, a seller could ask, “How’s my business doing?” and receive a comprehensive overview of their sales performance, inventory levels and potential areas for improvement.
Another feature aims to simplify the product listing process. Sellers can now create comprehensive listings by providing a brief description, a URL from their website, or a product image. The AI system then generates detailed product information, potentially reducing the time and effort required to list new items.
This capability is set to expand later this year, with Amazon planning to introduce a bulk listing workflow. This new feature will allow sellers to upload a spreadsheet with basic product details, and the AI will automatically generate rich titles, bullet points and descriptions for multiple listings simultaneously.
Enhancing brand storytelling and advertising
Amazon is also introducing AI-powered tools to help brands create more engaging content on their product pages. The A+ Content feature now uses generative AI to produce narrative content and lifestyle imagery based on key product attributes provided by the seller.
This tool is particularly beneficial for smaller brands that may lack the resources to create high-quality branded content. By inputting descriptive terms like “quality leather” or “versatile for any occasion,” sellers can generate rich narrative content that highlights their products’ unique qualities.
For advertising, Amazon has launched Video Generator, a tool that creates short video advertisements from a single product image. This feature aims to make video advertising more accessible to sellers who may lack the resources to produce traditional video content.
Personalising the customer experience
On the customer-facing side, Amazon is using Gen AI to tailor product recommendations and descriptions based on individual shopping habits. The system analyses a customer’s preferences to create personalised recommendation categories and adjust product descriptions to highlight relevant features.
Key facts
- Project Amelia: AI assistant providing personalised support to Amazon sellers
- AI-powered product listing creator: Generates comprehensive listings from brief descriptions or images
- A+ Content generator: Creates brand storylines and lifestyle imagery for product pages
- Video Generator: Produces short video ads from a single product image
- AI-driven personalised recommendations: Tailors product suggestions and descriptions based on customer shopping habits
For example, instead of generic “More like this” recommendations, customers might see more specific suggestions such as “Gift boxes in time for Mother’s Day” or “Cool deals to improve your curling game,” based on their browsing and purchase history. This personalisation extends to product descriptions as well. If a customer frequently searches for gluten-free products, the term “gluten-free” may be added to relevant product descriptions to help the customer quickly identify suitable items.
This feature is particularly useful for mobile shoppers, where screen space is limited. By surfacing the most relevant information for each individual customer, Amazon aims to improve the shopping experience and help sellers’ products reach the right audience more effectively.
“Generative AI is one of the most transformational technologies of our generation,” Mary Beth adds. “Throughout our history, Amazon has been heavily focused on the development and deployment of AI and machine learning to improve the Amazon customer experience, support the success of sellers, maximise productivity and tackle some of humanity’s most challenging problems.”
The introduction of these AI tools comes as competition in the e-commerce sector intensifies, with rivals such as Walmart and Shopify also investing in AI capabilities to improve their platforms. By providing these advanced tools to sellers, Amazon aims to maintain its competitive edge and continue attracting merchants to its platform.
Amazon’s new AI features are built on the company’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), utilising its Amazon Bedrock service, which provides access to foundation models for generative AI applications.
Mary Beth concludes: “Today, Amazon is deepening that commitment with the launch of several new generative AI-powered tools that streamline sellers’ businesses and enhance their experience selling in Amazon’s store.”
credit: Markus Law