The news: Amazon is expanding the selection on its ecommerce site and app by opening product feeds that let brands supply product information for Shop Direct, the feature it launched last year that displays listings from other retailers’ sites to complete purchases when those products aren’t available on Amazon.

Shop Direct now includes more than 100 million products from over 400,000 merchants, with “tens of millions” of items eligible for its AI-powered “Buy for Me” functionality, which allows users to purchase select products directly from other brands’ websites when those items aren’t sold on Amazon. Amazon says it has already referred customers millions of times to merchant sites through the program.

Brands working with Feedonomics, Salsify, and CedCommerce can access the feeds, which sync catalog, pricing, and inventory data in real time. Amazon plans to introduce a self-service merchant portal later this month and add additional feed syndicators in the future.

Amazon does not currently charge a commission on sales generated through these links but declined to share with EMARKETER any details about its potential monetization plans.

Shop Direct is available to all US customers across Amazon.com, the Amazon Shopping app, mobile web browsers, and within Rufus.

How it works: Shop Direct links appear in branded search results, traditional search listings, and recommendations surfaced by Amazon’s Rufus chatbot.

When shoppers tap “Shop Direct,” they’re redirected to the merchant’s website after receiving a notification that they’re leaving Amazon.

For eligible products, customers can tap “Buy for Me,” confirm their order details on Amazon’s checkout page, and have Amazon’s agentic AI complete the purchase on the merchant’s site using encrypted payment and shipping information. Orders appear in a dedicated Buy for Me tab within Amazon, while merchants handle fulfillment, returns, exchanges, and customer service.

Why is this happening? Amazon has four main motivations behind Shop Direct.

1. Make Amazon even more of a shopping hub. While “hundreds of millions” of products are already available on the platform, Shop Direct expands its virtual shelves even further to ensure that shoppers can find everything from a Hermès handbag to AAA batteries without leaving Amazon. This reinforces Amazon’s role as the default place consumers start their shopping journey.
2. Prevent AI disruption. While most discovery currently happens outside AI agents, that could change as those platforms gain traction. If shoppers begin relying on AI agents to search and buy on their behalf, Amazon risks losing its position as the first stop. Amazon has already moved to limit that risk. It sued Perplexity over its Comet AI browser, which was making purchases on shoppers’ behalf, and a court ruled Tuesday that Perplexity must stop using the agent to transact on Amazon’s marketplace.
3. Strengthen Rufus. The more products Rufus can reference—including those not sold directly on Amazon—the more useful its recommendations become. Greater utility can drive deeper engagement, keeping shoppers within Amazon’s ecosystem even when transactions occur elsewhere.
4. Build bridges with brands. Shop Direct’s initial rollout drew backlash after Amazon duplicated some product listings—at times inaccurately—leading to frustrated consumers and complaints from merchants who said their products appeared without consent. Structured feeds give brands greater control over how their products appear, syncing real-time data and clearly displaying merchant names so shoppers know who they’re buying from. Merchants maintain ownership of fulfillment and post-purchase service, and receive customer information needed to manage delivery and support. Lowering friction and increasing transparency could help rebuild trust, while positioning Shop Direct as a potential gateway to deeper first- or third-party selling relationships over time.

Implications for Amazon, retailers, and brands: Amazon is taking another step to solidify its ecommerce dominance. We expect it to account for 39.5% of US retail ecommerce sales this year, and Shop Direct reinforces its ambition to be the starting point for virtually every online purchase.

By expanding its accessible product universe beyond marketplace inventory and integrating agentic checkout directly into its own experience, Amazon is attempting to future-proof its position in an AI-driven commerce landscape. Structured feeds reduce merchant friction, increase data accuracy, and make participation scalable.

The remaining question is monetization. Amazon is not currently charging commission on Shop Direct sales, but as volume grows, the company will likely look for ways to capture value—whether through advertising, services, and/or transaction fees. For now, however, the priority appears to be squarely focused on expanding its selection and ensuring that even when commerce fragments, discovery still begins on Amazon.