Amazon is launching a new AI-powered selling assistant code-named “Project Amelia” to help sellers navigate the nuances of e-commerce, using generative artificial intelligence to answer questions and provide guidance.
Over time, the company says, the AI assistant will also serve as an autonomous agent, anticipating the needs of sellers and taking action to resolve issues in their storefronts, supply chains and other areas.
The company is announcing a beta of Project Amelia on Thursday morning at its Accelerate seller conference in Seattle. It works through a conversational interface within the Amazon Seller Central portal.
Sellers have “a whole host of different areas that they have to figure out,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, in an interview this week. “They need to understand selling in an Amazon store. They’ve got to understand their products, and their business, and what their objectives are. And so we really said, how could we create that expert for a seller?”
The AI assistant combines general knowledge of Amazon’s broader platform with specific insights into the seller’s situation. For example, sellers will be able to use the AI assistant to get an overview of their business, or seek advice on product categories, pricing, and advertising strategies.
As the technology evolves, Project Amelia will be able to take action on sellers’ behalf, helping to resolve issues such as missing inventory or shipping delays.
It’s the latest example of AI reshaping the experience for one of Amazon’s most important constituencies. Sellers represent more than 60% of sales on Amazon.com, Mehta said during his keynote address Wednesday.
Third-party seller services generated more than $148 billion in revenue for Amazon during the last 12 months, or nearly 25% of the company’s total revenue, according to Amazon’s financial reports.
Amazon competes in this sector against major retailers and e-commerce platforms such as Walmart, Target, Alibaba, Shopify, and others.
This year’s conference comes against a backdrop of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s landmark lawsuit, filed a year ago, alleging that the company illegally leverages its monopoly power over sellers and others. Amazon has described its activities as the “essence of competition” in its opposition to the FTC’s claims.
In the meantime, Amazon is pressing ahead with a wave of new AI features for sellers. More than 400,000 sellers globally are using its generative AI features, a number that has roughly doubled in the past two months, Mehta said.
Examples include the ability to generate product listings from text, URLs, or images. Another upcoming feature will use AI to generate listings in bulk when sellers upload details of their product catalog.
The company is also planning to release a new AI video generator that can automatically create video ads for sellers, at a significant cost savings compared to the normal process of producing and editing product videos.
Project Amelia was built on the Amazon Bedrock generative AI platform, which gives the company the flexibility to use different AI models to power the experience.
Amazon plans to release the Project Amelia beta to a set of U.S.-based sellers starting this week, before expanding to all U.S. sellers over the coming month or so, followed by an international rollout. The use of a code name signals that it may be called something else when released in final form.
https://ift.tt/kTSMWGK September 19, 2024 at 01:09PM GeekWire
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