Marketplace Briefing: Amazon expands AI-powered Shop Direct program that lets customers buy from other retailers’ sites

Amazon is expanding Shop Direct, which lets shoppers find and buy items from other retailers even when those items aren’t sold on Amazon.com.

What happened

This is the latest installment of the Marketplace Briefing, a weekly Modern Retail+ column about the ever-changing e-commerce marketplace landscape. More from the series →

Why it matters

Amazon is expanding Shop Direct, an AI-driven program that lets shoppers find and buy products from other retailers even when those items aren’t sold on Amazon.com.

The company announced Wednesday it is widening access to Shop Direct by allowing merchants to automatically sync their catalog, pricing and inventory through third-party feed providers, including Feedonomics, Salsify and CedCommerce. The aim is to make it easier for brands to surface their products in Amazon search results and its AI shopping assistant Rufus.

The move is part of Amazon’s broader effort to make its website the starting point for every online purchase, including those that ultimately take place outside its own marketplace. Shop Direct allows customers to click out to a brand’s website to complete a purchase. The program, which Amazon introduced in February 2025, now includes more than 400,000 merchants and over 100 million products, according to the company. Shop Direct listings appear alongside standard Amazon product results and in recommendations from the company’s Rufus AI shopping assistant, where they are clearly labeled before linking to a brand’s website.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Modern Retail on 2026-03-12. The original report is linked below.