Amazon pilots 'Rufus' generative AI shopping assistant in Canada
Canadian consumers can now try out an artificial intelligence-based feature in the Amazon e-commerce app.
The e-tail giant is rolling out Rufus, its generative AI-based expert shopping assistant, to select Canadian customers starting Tuesday, Oct. 29. 2024. Rufus is trained on Amazon’s product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&A, and information from across the web to answer customer questions on topics such as shopping needs, product and comparisons; make recommendations based on conversational context; and facilitate product discovery within the mainstream Amazon shopping experience.
Initially piloted in the U.S. in February 2024 and rolled out widely there in July 2024, Rufus is also available to Amazon shoppers in the U.K. and India.
[READ MORE: Amazon releases mobile generative AI shopping assistant]
With Rufus, customers can conduct more general product research on Amazon, with queries such as "types of headphones" or "types of coffee machines" and receive relevant information.
Rufus also enables customers to search for and discover products based on activity, event, purpose, and other specific needs by asking questions such as "What do I need for climbing?" or "I want to start an indoor garden."
Rufus then suggests shoppable product categories and related questions that customers can click on for more specific searches. In addition, customers can ask Rufus to compare product category features by asking questions like "What’s the difference between lip gloss and lip oil?"
To use Rufus, customers in the Canadian beta can click on the icon in the bottom righthand corner on Amazon’s mobile app and a Rufus chat box will appear on their screen. Customers can expand the chat box to see answers to their questions, tap on suggested questions, and ask follow-up questions.
Shoppers can also dismiss Rufus to return to their traditional search results at any time by swiping down to close the chat box. Amazon says it will keep improving its AI models and fine-tune responses to continuously make Rufus more helpful over time.
Participants in the Canadian beta can leave feedback by rating their answers with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and they have the option to provide freeform commentary as well.
"We are excited about the potential of generative AI and will continue testing new features to make it even easier to find and discover, research, and buy products on Amazon’s store," Amazon Canada said in a corporate blog post. "We look forward to progressively rolling Rufus out to additional customers in the coming weeks."
Amazon also recently introduced the Climate Pledge Friendly program in Canada. Initially introduced in the U.S. in September 2020, the initiative identifies and spotlights eligible sustainable items in shopping results and is part of Amazon’s efforts to meet the Climate Pledge, a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040.
