Amazon will begin giving customers the option to text its Alexa for Shopping tool for assistance in their product searches.

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“Select customers can now text Alexa for Shopping their requests, and it gets to work finding the right products, building their shopping cart, seamlessly making purchases, and providing delivery updates,” the eCommerce giant said in its announcement Friday (Nov. 6).

The ability to text with Alexa for Shopping has begun rolling out to a select group of customers in the U.S. by invitation only, though the option to use this service is expected to roll out to millions of additional users in the weeks ahead.

“Alexa for Shopping—in the Amazon Shopping app, on the website, and now by text—doesn’t just answer questions,” the company said. “It takes action on customers’ behalf, including ordering your weekly groceries, reviewing a recipe and adding the right items to your cart, looking for great deals or new products, or texting you when an item hits your target price.”

Amazon earlier this year removed Meta’s Muse agent from its eCommerce site, saying that Muse did not identify itself as it browsed, and it appeared to capture and store customer credentials, which Amazon said could lead to privacy and security risks.

“We think it’s fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement provided to PYMNTS.

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