Amazon made one of its biggest moves in years, and many sellers still have not noticed. It expanded Shop Direct, an AI-powered experience that lets shoppers discover and buy products from outside websites without leaving Amazon. If you sell on Amazon or run your own store, this changes how products get found. Here is what Amazon Shop Direct and Buy for Me actually are, and what they mean for you.
Quick Answer
Amazon Shop Direct surfaces products from merchants’ own websites inside Amazon search, even when those products are not sold on Amazon. For eligible items, shoppers can tap “Buy for Me” and Amazon’s AI completes the purchase on the merchant’s site using the shopper’s saved Amazon details. In March 2026, Amazon opened this up through third-party feeds, and it now spans 100 million-plus products from 400,000-plus merchants.
What Changed
Amazon launched Shop Direct in 2025 to show products relevant to a shopper even when those products were not listed on Amazon. On March 11, 2026, Amazon announced merchants can now connect to Shop Direct through third-party product feeds using providers like Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce. That lowers the technical barrier and lets brands sync their catalog, pricing, and inventory in real time without formally listing on Amazon.
According to Amazon, Shop Direct now includes over 100 million products from more than 400,000 merchants, with tens of millions available through Buy for Me. Here is how the two pieces work: when a shopper sees a Shop Direct product, they can tap “Shop Direct” to go to the merchant’s website, or, for eligible items, tap “Buy for Me” to have Amazon’s AI complete the purchase on that site using the shopper’s saved Amazon address and payment. It is live for US customers on Amazon.com, the shopping app, mobile web, and inside Amazon’s AI assistant, now called Alexa for Shopping (formerly Rufus).
Shop Direct sends the shopper to the merchant’s site. Buy for Me has Amazon’s AI complete the purchase there on the shopper’s behalf.
What It Means for Sellers
This is a genuine shift in how discovery works. Products can now appear in Amazon results without traditional listings or rankings, which changes how brands compete for visibility. For a brand with a strong own-site presence, it is a new top-of-funnel channel, Amazon referring shoppers to your store. For established Amazon sellers, it means more products competing in the same search space.
There is a real tension worth being honest about. Amazon pulls product and pricing information from public sources on a brand’s website, and some merchants have reported their products appearing in Shop Direct without their permission, or listings showing items that were out of stock or never sold. Amazon says businesses can opt out at any time by emailing branddirect@amazon.com, and that it removes them promptly. So this is both an opportunity and a tradeoff around control and customer data.
What to Do About It
Whether you lean in or opt out, do it deliberately:
Check whether your products already appear in Shop Direct. Search your brand and products on Amazon and look for Shop Direct or Buy for Me labels you did not set up.
Decide if it fits your strategy. If your pricing is stable, inventory is reliable, and fulfillment is solid, the extra exposure may be worth it. If you rely on owning the full customer experience, weigh that carefully.
Fix your catalog data first. Because Amazon pulls from public product data, accurate titles, pricing, and stock on your own site matter more than ever. Messy data means messy Shop Direct results.
Know your opt-out path. If you do not want to participate, the opt-out is emailing branddirect@amazon.com.
Get your listings AI-search ready. Discovery is increasingly driven by Amazon’s AI assistant. Listings written clearly for AI-driven search are the ones that surface.
IMPORTANT: The through-line here is AI-driven discovery. As Alexa for Shopping surfaces products, including from outside stores, the brands with clear, well-structured, question-answering content win visibility. This is the same shift that makes AI-ready listings matter across all of Amazon. Our guide on Amazon’s AI shopping assistant explains how to write for it.
What is the difference between Shop Direct and Buy for Me?
Shop Direct shows products from merchants’ own sites inside Amazon search and sends shoppers to the merchant’s website to buy. Buy for Me goes a step further: for eligible products, Amazon’s AI completes the purchase on the merchant’s site on the shopper’s behalf, using their saved Amazon address and payment.
Can my products appear in Shop Direct without my permission?
Some merchants have reported exactly that, since Amazon pulls from public product data on brand websites. Amazon says businesses can opt out at any time by emailing branddirect@amazon.com and are removed promptly.
Is Shop Direct available everywhere?
As of the March 2026 expansion, it is available for US customers on Amazon.com, the Amazon Shopping app, mobile web browsers, and within Alexa for Shopping (formerly Rufus). Amazon has said more feed providers and a merchant-direct portal are coming.
Written by the AMZ Scaler Team
Amazon advertising and listing specialists with 5+ years managing PPC and listing optimization for brands across the US, UK, and Canada. We publish what we apply in real seller accounts every day.
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