Amazon AWS Agentic Shopping Assistant for Retailers

Amazon Opens Its AI Shopping Technology to Retailers Through AWS

Amazon has long been at the forefront of ecommerce innovation, and its latest move signals a significant shift in how artificial intelligence is reshaping the retail industry. The company is now making the same AI technology that powers its own shopping agent available to other retailers through Amazon Web Services (AWS). The new offering, called the Agentic Shopping Assistant, allows brands outside of Amazon's marketplace to build and deploy their own customized AI-powered digital assistants — and Kate Spade New York is among the first to put it to work.

What Is the Amazon Agentic Shopping Assistant?

The Agentic Shopping Assistant is a new product available through AWS that gives retailers the infrastructure and AI capabilities needed to create personalized, conversational shopping experiences for their customers. Rather than relying on static search bars or basic product filters, shoppers interacting with these agents can engage in natural-language conversations — asking questions, describing preferences, and receiving tailored product recommendations in real time.

Amazon designed the tool specifically with the evolving behavior of online shoppers in mind. According to the company, more consumers are turning to AI agents to help them search for products, compare options, and even complete purchases. By making this technology accessible to third-party retailers through AWS, Amazon is positioning itself not just as a retailer but as a key infrastructure provider for the next era of AI-powered commerce.

The assistant draws on the same underlying AI technology that drives Amazon's own shopping agent, meaning retailers gain access to proven, enterprise-grade capabilities without having to build them from scratch. This dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for brands that want to integrate sophisticated AI into their customer experience.

Kate Spade New York Launches an AI Gift Concierge

Among the earliest adopters of the Agentic Shopping Assistant is Kate Spade New York, a luxury lifestyle brand owned by Tapestry Inc. The brand used AWS's new solution as the foundation for its AI Gift Concierge, a conversational agent designed to help shoppers find the perfect gift.

The AI Gift Concierge can hold dynamic, natural-language conversations with customers and offer personalized gift recommendations based on a range of factors, including the occasion, the recipient's style, budget considerations, and more. Rather than overwhelming shoppers with a wall of products, the concierge narrows down choices in a way that feels intuitive and human.

Fabio Luzzi, Tapestry's Chief Data and Analytics Officer, explained the thinking behind the tool: "It's a conversational AI experience that helps customers find the right gift, and it came directly from listening to our consumers and figuring out what they actually needed." That consumer-first approach reflects a broader trend in retail, where AI adoption is being driven not just by technology capabilities but by genuine gaps in the customer journey.

Tapestry Inc., which also owns the Coach brand, ranks No. 40 in Digital Commerce 360's Top 2000 Database of the largest North American online retailers — making it a high-profile early proof point for what Amazon's Agentic Shopping Assistant can deliver in a real-world retail environment.

Why This Matters for the Future of Retail AI

The launch of the Agentic Shopping Assistant on AWS arrives at a pivotal moment for ecommerce. AI agents are no longer a novelty — they are becoming a core part of how consumers discover and buy products online. Retailers that fail to meet shoppers where they are risk falling behind competitors who offer faster, smarter, and more personalized digital experiences.

By packaging its AI shopping capabilities as an AWS product, Amazon is doing something strategically notable: monetizing its own technological investments while simultaneously helping the broader retail ecosystem evolve. Retailers of all sizes can now tap into powerful AI infrastructure without the enormous R&D costs typically associated with building such systems in-house.

The implications extend beyond gift shopping or fashion retail. Any category where product discovery is complex — electronics, home furnishings, beauty, sporting goods — could benefit enormously from a conversational AI layer that guides customers through decisions with contextual intelligence.

More Retailers Are Already Testing the Technology

Kate Spade is not alone. Amazon has confirmed that additional retailers are currently testing the Agentic Shopping Assistant solution through AWS, though the company has not yet named those brands publicly. This suggests the pipeline of adoption is growing, and that Amazon views this product as a significant part of its AWS commerce strategy going forward.

For AWS, adding retail-focused AI tools to its cloud services portfolio continues a pattern of expanding beyond traditional cloud computing into industry-specific solutions. As the AI agent space becomes more competitive — with players like Google, Microsoft, and a growing number of AI startups all vying for retail clients — Amazon's ability to offer proven, commerce-native AI capabilities gives it a meaningful edge.

What Retailers Should Know Before Adopting AI Shopping Agents

For retail decision-makers considering AI shopping assistants, there are several key factors worth evaluating:

Customization depth: The best AI agents are trained on brand-specific data and reflect the tone, values, and product catalog of the retailer. Generic solutions rarely deliver the personalization shoppers expect from a premium brand experience.
Integration with existing systems: A shopping agent needs to connect seamlessly with inventory management, CRM data, and checkout workflows. AWS's cloud infrastructure makes this kind of integration more manageable, but it still requires thoughtful implementation.
Customer trust and transparency: Shoppers should understand when they are interacting with an AI agent. Clear communication about the nature of the assistant helps build trust rather than erode it.
Ongoing training and improvement: AI agents improve with use, but only if the underlying models are regularly updated based on real customer interactions and feedback. Retailers should plan for continuous optimization, not a one-time launch.

Amazon's Broader AI Commerce Vision

This launch is part of a much larger strategic vision for Amazon. The company ranks No. 1 in Digital Commerce 360's Top 2000 Database of North American online retailers, and it has been aggressive in deploying AI across every layer of its business — from logistics and fulfillment to product recommendations and customer service. Extending those capabilities to outside retailers through AWS is a natural evolution, and one that could reshape competitive dynamics across ecommerce.

As AI agents become a standard fixture in the online shopping experience, the companies that control the underlying infrastructure will have an outsized influence on how retail evolves. Amazon, through the Agentic Shopping Assistant and its broader AWS ecosystem, is clearly positioning itself to be that foundational layer for the AI-powered retail economy.

The Bottom Line

Amazon's Agentic Shopping Assistant on AWS marks a meaningful turning point in the democratization of retail AI. By making its own shopping agent technology available to third-party retailers, Amazon is giving brands the tools to deliver smarter, more conversational customer experiences — without requiring them to build those capabilities from the ground up. Kate Spade New York's AI Gift Concierge offers an early glimpse of what's possible, and with more retailers already in testing, the mainstream rollout of AI-powered shopping agents across the retail landscape appears to be well underway.