Amazon is allowing a subset of its US users to shop for goods on its platform by directly texting its Alexa agent in a major expansion of its agentic commerce offering.

The offering, which gives users access to the platform’s Alexa for Shopping agent through their phones, is initially only available through invitation, but the option is set to roll out to a “million” more customers in the coming weeks, the company said.

Texting offers the same functionality as the web version of the agent, with users able to text shopping lists, photos or product requests to the agent which then adds relevant items to your cart. Users can also ask for the agent for product recommendations, price drop monitoring and deal tracking, Amazon added.

Alexa for Shopping is also able to remember users’ preferences and previous purchases, the company said, allowing it to personalise its responses over time.

The move represents Amazon’s latest expansion of its agentic commerce offering, which it has steadily invested in over the past year. The company said that more than 400 million customers have used Alexa for Shopping over the past 12 months, and the number using its agentic features has increased more than eight times since the start of the year.

“Customers often jot down what they need the moment they think of it in their notes, in their messages, in their group chats,” said Rajiv Mehta, vice president of conversational shopping at Amazon. “Now with Alexa for Shopping, your personal shopping agent is just a text away. Message it what you need, and Alexa goes to work on your behalf —searching, comparing, and buying so you can get on with your day.”

Earlier in November, Amazon launched a new self-service portal that enables retailers to make their products directly discoverable through Alexa for Shopping without listing them on Amazon’s marketplace.

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