Amazon expands shopping program with products from retailers’ sites

In a blog post on Feb. 11, 2025, Amazon said it is testing a beta that shows select products from other brands’ websites in Amazon Shopping app search results for a subset of US customers and links customers to those brand sites to evaluate the product, see pricing and delivery options, and make purchases directly on the brand’s website.

Amazon said it carries hundreds of millions of products, including 300 million items available with fast, free Prime delivery across more than 35 categories.

In the experiment, customers who tap products sold on a brand’s site receive a notification that they are leaving Amazon and are redirected to the brand’s website to view pricing and delivery options.

Amazon said that if a brand has Buy with Prime-enabled products, Prime members can enjoy fast, free delivery, easy returns, and 24/7 customer support for items purchased directly on the brand’s website.

The test is live for a subset of US users on iOS and Android, and Amazon said it will expand the beta and add more brands based on feedback.

Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping, said the company is experimenting to improve selection and convenience for customers.

🔗 Source: Amazon

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The “opt-in” test has a history of non-consensual inclusion and alleged data scraping

The Shop Direct pilot has been in testing for nearly a year 1.
Some brands said Amazon listed their items without permission, which sometimes surfaced wrong product details 1.
The rollout drew heat because Amazon previously sued Perplexity, an AI search startup, over alleged scraping of Amazon data without consent 1.
Amazon describes the program as a way for brands to reach new shoppers, yet click data on external links could also guide what Amazon stocks or which brands it pursues 2.

This test could also serve as a lever to increase Buy with Prime adoption

The trial also appears aimed at lifting Amazon’s Buy with Prime service, which started slowly and missed internal unit-sales targets by a “wide margin,” based on internal emails described by Business Insider 3.
Business Insider said internal messages put Buy with Prime enablement at 36% of products, and an executive tied “product-market fit” to merchants pushing that figure above 75% 3.
By sending some Amazon Shopping app searches to outside sites, Amazon could steer shoppers to Buy with Prime checkout when it is available, which may raise awareness and use 2.
The approach also makes Amazon look more like a product search engine by capturing intent for items it does not sell; EMARKETER (a market research firm) says the external link test is not paid advertising, though it sees a path to a non-endemic retail-media opportunity (ads sold to brands that don’t sell products in the category where the ad appears) 4.