Amazon Introduces AI Agent to Assist Third-Party Sellers

Amazon has introduced an AI agent called Seller Assistant to help its third-party merchants operate their online businesses. The AI agent uses generative AI to conduct tedious operational tasks, freeing up merchants to focus on product innovation and customer relationships. The company plans to offer the service for free and does not currently plan to charge merchants to use it. Amazon's third-party sellers account for over half of all goods sold on its site.

Amazon.com Inc. has introduced a new AI agent called Seller Assistant, designed to assist its third-party merchants in managing their online businesses more efficiently. This AI agent leverages generative AI to perform routine operational tasks, allowing merchants to focus on product innovation and customer relationships. The service will be offered for free to U.S. merchants initially, with plans for global deployment in the coming months.

The Seller Assistant is designed to predict demand and manage inventory, suggesting optimal quantities of products to order, discount timings to boost sales, and when to pull inventory from Amazon facilities to avoid storage fees. This proactive approach aims to help merchants navigate the volatility of the holiday shopping season, which has been clouded by trade tensions between the U.S. and China Amazon Revamps AI Agent for Online Sellers Hit by Trade War^[1].

The AI agent is trained on 25 years of shopping behavior, including the supply chain disruptions of the pandemic, periods of inflation, and high interest rates. This extensive training enables the Seller Assistant to provide more accurate predictions and suggestions, thereby saving sellers both time and money Amazon Revamps AI Agent for Online Sellers Hit by Trade War^[1].

Amazon is not the first to offer such services, as a range of e-commerce consultants and software companies already provide similar tools. However, Amazon's offering stands out due to its integration into the Amazon ecosystem and the free access it provides to U.S. merchants. The company's goal is to enhance the efficiency of its third-party sellers, who account for over half of all goods sold on the platform Amazon Revamps AI Agent for Online Sellers Hit by Trade War^[1].

In parallel, PayPal has partnered with Google to create an intelligent shopping experience for merchants. This collaboration integrates PayPal's digital payment systems and Google's AI tools to drive agent-based shopping. The partnership aims to establish a new standard for secure and efficient transactions, leveraging AI agents to understand consumer preferences and enhance the shopping experience PayPal and Google Partner to Create Intelligent Shopping for Merchants^[2].

These developments underscore the growing importance of AI in e-commerce, with AI agents increasingly acting as autonomous decision-making tools. The integration of AI into core business processes is expected to significantly enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs for both merchants and consumers.