Amazon Launches Alexa for Shopping in Canada: Here’s How it Works

Amazon has launched Alexa for Shopping in Canada, an AI shopping assistant that builds on the Rufus assistant that arrived here in 2024 and the conversational smarts of Alexa+, which opened to all Canadians in June.

It works on Amazon.ca and in the Amazon Shopping app. It’s free, and you don’t need an Echo device, the Alexa app or a Prime membership to use it.

Amazon announced the feature today, and it’s rolling out to all Canadian customers over the coming week. To find it, update the Amazon Shopping app and tap the Alexa icon in the bottom navigation bar. On desktop, it sits at the top of the screen.

The idea is to go beyond typing keywords into a search bar. You can ask questions in plain language, compare products and get help building a cart, all in one conversation. We first saw Alexa for Shopping when it launched in the U.S. in May.

What Alexa for Shopping Can Do

Here’s what Amazon says the Canadian version can do at launch, according to the company in an email to iPhone in Canada on Thursday:

• Remember your preferences: It pulls together product info, your shopping history and past conversations, so you can pick up where you left off instead of starting a new search. You can view, update or remove what it knows about you, such as family members, pets, interests and dietary needs, just by asking.
• AI overviews in search: You can ask questions right in Amazon’s search bar and get AI-generated summaries at the top of search results and on product pages.
• Custom shopping guides: For bigger purchases like a TV, it can build a guide that compares features, prices and reviews from Amazon and across the web.
• Cart building and reorders: It can search your past orders and add items to your cart, or build a new cart from a request like “add my regular dog treats.”
• A full year of price history: Tap “Price History” on a product page, or ask, to see how a price has changed over 30, 60 or 365 days. Amazon says this covers hundreds of millions of products.

The price history tool could be the most useful feature here. It lands just ahead of Amazon Canada’s Black Friday Week, which starts November 19, so you can check whether a “deal” is really a deal before you buy.

You can also track packages and check order status by chatting with it. For anything outside shopping, like smart home controls or music, it hands you off to Alexa+ in the Alexa app or on Alexa.com.

It Also Connects to Your Echo

Amazon says what you tell Alexa on an Echo can carry over to shopping, and the other way around. For example, if you ask Alexa on your Echo to remember a birthday, Alexa for Shopping can later suggest gifts that will arrive in time.

Echo Show owners are getting the full Amazon store on their screens too. You can browse, search and shop by voice, touch or both.

Price Alerts Are Coming Next

Amazon says more features are on the way in the coming weeks and months. The main one is Price Alerts, which will let you set a target price on a product and get notified when it drops to that price. Canadians are typically using third-party services like CamelCamelCamel, so this is a welcomed addition. Amazon also says Alexa for Shopping will keep getting better at remembering your preferences across devices.

The launch comes as AI shopping agents keep showing up in Canada. Earlier this month, Google launched direct checkout in AI Mode and Gemini for Canadians. Amazon, meanwhile, blocked Meta’s Muse AI from completing purchases on its platform in September, citing account security concerns.

Have you tried Rufus or Alexa+ for shopping yet? Let us know in the comments.