Amazon Tests Audio Summaries of Products for Shopping

Shoppers tired of doing online research on products they’re interested in buying could soon just listen to a robust CliffsNotes-type summary.

Amazon started testing short-form audio product summaries, featuring artificial intelligence-powered shopping experts talking about a product’s key features, Amazon Vice President of Search and Conversational Shopping Rajiv Mehta wrote in a Wednesday (May 21) blog post.

These AI assistants have done the product research, read the customer reviews and gathered other information on the web. They then voice the highlights of what they found to the shopper, per the post.

These voice summaries make “product research fun and convenient — it’s like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier,” the post said.

To access the voice summary, shoppers must tap the “Hear the highlights” button on the product’s page within the Amazon Shopping app, according to the post.

The first slate of products with voice summaries are those that usually need thoughtful consideration before buying. They are available to a group of customers in the United States, and a broader rollout is planned in the coming months, the post said.

Amazon uses large language models to generate scripts for the audio summaries, as they pull together the product description, reviews and other online information, according to the post.

Other Amazon AI assistants include Rufus, which answers questions for shoppers on its eCommerce site; Shopping Guides, which use generative AI to provide shopping guidance and product recommendations; Interests, which constantly monitors new products the shopper might like; review highlights, which synthesize product reviews; and Buy for Me, which uses AI agents to buy products from external brands’ websites.

Using voice to make buying easier for consumers has received mixed reviews from retailers. In the fall, Taco Bell said it had handled 2 million customer orders using voice as it rolled out voice AI systems in more than 300 quick-service locations.

However, McDonald’s had a different experience. It paused its drive-thru AI chatbot developed by IBM after two years of testing, following accuracy issues.

Nevertheless, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Getting to Know You: How AI Is Shaping the Future of Shopping” found that the use of voice for shopping is gaining traction globally, with 27% of consumers having used it for shopping or paying for retail purchases.

Voice commerce is more popular among younger and wealthy shoppers, as 42% of Generation Z consumers and 31% of consumers earning more than $100,000 annually have used voice for shopping or payment.

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Read more:

• Voice AI Orders Go Mainstream With QSRs Leading the Way
• McDonald’s Pauses Drive-Thru AI Chatbot Test Despite Growth in Voice Economy
• 30% of Gen Z Consumers Shop by Voice Every Week

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