Amazon is introducing a new AI-powered selling assistant called “Project Amelia” to help sellers navigate the complexities of e-commerce. With generative artificial intelligence capabilities, this assistant will be able to answer questions and provide guidance to sellers. Over time, Project Amelia will become an autonomous agent, anticipating the needs of sellers and proactively addressing issues in various areas such as storefronts and supply chains. The beta version of Project Amelia is being announced at Amazon’s Accelerate seller conference in Seattle and will work through a conversational interface within the Amazon Seller Central portal.
Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, emphasized the diverse range of challenges that sellers face and why an AI assistant could be beneficial. Sellers need expertise on selling in an Amazon store, understanding their products, setting business objectives, and more. The AI assistant combines general knowledge of Amazon’s platform with insights into the specific situation of the seller. With Project Amelia, sellers can get an overview of their business, seek advice on product categories, pricing, and advertising strategies. As the technology evolves, Project Amelia will be able to take action on behalf of sellers, helping to resolve issues like missing inventory or shipping delays.
Amazon’s focus on AI technologies for sellers reflects the significance of this constituency. Sellers account for over 60% of Amazon.com sales, generating more than $148 billion in revenue for the company in the last 12 months. This sector sees competition from various major retailers and e-commerce platforms such as Walmart, Target, Alibaba, and Shopify. Despite this competitive landscape, Amazon continues to innovate with new AI features for sellers, aiming to enhance their selling experience. The usage of generative AI features by sellers globally has doubled in the past two months, with more than 400,000 sellers currently utilizing these capabilities.
The launch of Project Amelia at the Accelerate seller conference comes amidst the backdrop of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon illegally abuses its monopoly power over sellers. However, Amazon has defended its activities as promoting competition. Despite the legal challenges, Amazon is moving forward with AI initiatives for sellers, showcasing various new features powered by generative AI. These features include the ability to generate product listings from text, URLs, or images, as well as an upcoming feature that will automatically create video ads for sellers at a lower cost than traditional methods.
Project Amelia, developed on Amazon’s Bedrock generative AI platform, provides flexibility in utilizing different AI models to enhance the seller experience. The beta version of Project Amelia will initially be released to a select group of U.S.-based sellers before expanding to all U.S. sellers in the coming month. An international rollout is also planned. The use of a code name for the project suggests that it may be given a new name when officially released. Amazon’s commitment to leveraging AI to assist sellers highlights the company’s ongoing efforts to innovate and support its diverse ecosystem of third-party sellers.
