After launching in the UK in September, Amazon is now making Rufus available in beta to select customers in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. The AI-powered shopping assistant will progressively roll out to additional customers in these countries in the coming weeks. To use Rufus, customers in the beta can click on the icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Amazon mobile app, and a Rufus chat box will appear on their screen. They can also ask follow-up questions. Rufus can then be dismissed at any time by swiping down to close the chat box.
Rufus, trained in Amazon’s product catalog and information from multiple sources, can answer customer questions on products and comparisons. It can make recommendations and facilitate product discovery. Customers in the US, UK, and India have already asked Rufus tens of millions of questions, Amazon said.
With Rufus, customers can learn what to look for while shopping product categories, shop by purpose or occasion, get help comparing options, and find useful recommendations. Rufus generates results tailored to the specific question and makes it easier for customers to browse more refined results.
