The news: Amazon is rolling out a new AI-powered feature called Help Me Decide, designed to guide shoppers comparing similar items toward the best option for their needs.

How it works: The “Help Me Decide” button appears at the top of a product detail page when a shopper has been browsing comparable products without making a purchase.

• With a tap, the tool analyzes browsing activity, searches, purchase history, and preferences to recommend the right product. Shoppers can also access Help Me Decide from the homepage by tapping “Keep shopping for” to pick up where they left off.
• The tool presents shoppers with a recommendation that includes an explanation of why an item is a great fit, including key features, insights from customer reviews, and how it aligns with the consumer’s past purchases and preferences. If shoppers want more options, they can tap to explore an upgrade pick or a budget alternative.
• For example, if a shopper is looking for a new camping tent, Help Me Decide reviews the tents they’ve viewed along with related activities, such as browsing adult and kids’ sleeping bags for cold weather, checking out large car-camping stoves, or buying children’s hiking boots. Based on these signals, the tool might recommend an all-season tent that’s warm and spacious enough for four people.

The tool will initially be available to “millions” of US consumers on Amazon’s mobile app and website. The retailer says it will roll the tool out more broadly in the coming months.

The context: Help Me Decide is the latest in a growing line of AI-powered, consumer-facing tools Amazon has introduced to simplify product discovery.

• Its AI-powered Interests feature continuously scans for new products based on personalized prompts and alerts users when items match their interests.
• Shopping Guides compile expert advice and curated recommendations across hundreds of categories, while Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, answers real-time questions, compares products, and surfaces past orders.

Our take: Amazon is hardly alone among major retailers and technology companies racing to find ways to turn AI into a shopping companion.

• OpenAI recently launched Instant Checkout, which lets users purchase products from Etsy sellers, Shopify merchants, and Walmart directly through ChatGPT.
• Google introduced AI Mode, a conversational search tool powered by the Google Shopping Graph’s 50 billion product listings. Shoppers can describe what they’re looking for as if talking to a friend—for example, typing “barrel jeans that aren’t too baggy” instead of filtering for “weekend jeans for fall.” They can then refine results with follow-ups like “I want more ankle length.”
• Meta launched Business AI, a digital assistant that helps retailers deliver personalized recommendations and faster shopping across Facebook, Instagram, and Shopify-powered sites. Businesses can integrate it into Meta ads for free, allowing customers to ask questions and complete purchases within the ad experience. Meta plans to charge a lower fee for using Business AI on retailers’ own websites than competing tools.

But despite the enthusiasm, AI-powered commerce remains firmly in the experimental phase, with companies testing different approaches to see what sticks. Someone will eventually find a formula that fuses AI and shopping effectively for a specific segment, but it’s far from clear when that breakthrough will happen, or whether it will scale beyond the niche by convincing shoppers it’s actually solving a problem.