By Emily Chen
The Appleton Times
SEATTLE — Amazon's latest foray into artificial intelligence has drawn sharp criticism from small online retailers who claim the e-commerce giant is scraping their websites and listing their products for sale without permission. The feature, known as Shop Direct, allows shoppers to browse items from third-party sites directly on Amazon's platform, complete with a "Buy for Me" button powered by an AI agent that can complete purchases on behalf of users. Announced in February, the tool is currently in a testing phase for select U.S. customers, but it has already sparked a wave of backlash from businesses that say they were blindsided by the unauthorized listings.
According to posts on social media platforms like Reddit and Instagram, several retailers have reported discovering their products — and sometimes products they don't even sell — appearing on Amazon's marketplace. The complaints began surfacing in recent weeks, with some shop owners describing confusion and frustration as orders started rolling in from Amazon's AI system. For instance, Hitchcock Paper, a Virginia-based stationery shop, highlighted its grievances in an Instagram post in late December.
"Sounds like a great program until the agentic AI starts selling customers things you don't have, all while your shop has no idea it's sending the wrong items to the customer," the company wrote. Hitchcock Paper said it first learned of its inclusion in the program when it received orders for a stress ball product, which it does not carry, originating from a "buyforme.amazon" email address. The incident left the retailer scrambling to fulfill or refund unexpected purchases.
Bobo Design Studio, a company specializing in stationery and journaling accessories, encountered a similar issue. CEO Angie Chua told CNBC that her business, which operates through a Shopify website and a physical storefront in Palm Springs, California, began receiving orders from Amazon's Buy for Me agent last week, despite never opting into the program. Chua said she followed Amazon's FAQ instructions and emailed the company to request removal of her listings, which were taken down within a few days.
However, the experience was far from smooth for Chua. "We were forced to be dropshippers on a platform that we have made a conscious decision not to be part of," she said, referring to the dropshipping model where sellers facilitate sales without holding inventory. Chua added that more than 180 other businesses using platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and Wix have reached out to her with similar stories of unauthorized listings on Amazon.
Amazon, for its part, maintains that the programs are designed to benefit both consumers and sellers. A spokesperson told CNBC that Shop Direct and Buy for Me enable customers to "find any product they want and need," including items not available directly on Amazon's site. The company emphasized that more than 60% of sales on its retail platform now come from independent third-party merchants, a shift that has grown over the past decade.
The spokesperson added that product and pricing information is drawn from publicly available data on brands' websites, and Amazon's system includes checks to verify stock availability and accurate pricing. "Businesses can opt out at any time by emailing branddirect@amazon.com, and we remove them from these programs promptly," the spokesperson said. Amazon also noted that the initiatives have "received positive feedback" and help businesses "reach new customers and drive incremental sales."
Buy for Me, described by Amazon as an ongoing experiment, does not charge commissions on purchases made through the agent. Since its launch, the number of products accessible via the tool has expanded significantly, from 65,000 in November to more than 500,000. This growth aligns with Amazon's broader strategy to integrate AI into its shopping ecosystem, positioning the company as a leader in what could become a transformative shift in online retail.
The backlash comes amid Amazon's aggressive push into e-commerce AI agents, technologies that allow consumers to buy products seamlessly within chat interfaces or apps. Competitors like OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity have rolled out similar features, enabling purchases without users leaving a chatbot window. Amazon has responded protectively to these developments, blocking dozens of external agents from accessing its site while investing heavily in its own tools.
In November, Amazon escalated tensions by suing Perplexity, a startup behind the Comet browser, over an AI agent that facilitates purchases on users' behalf. The lawsuit alleges that Perplexity took steps to "conceal" its agents to continue scraping Amazon's website without approval. Perplexity dismissed the action as a "bully tactic," defending its technology as innovative and user-friendly.
Amazon's own AI shopping assistant, Rufus, released in 2024, has evolved to include some agentic capabilities, further blurring the lines between browsing and buying. Industry observers see these moves as part of a larger battle for control over the future of online commerce, where AI could streamline transactions but also raise questions about data privacy, consent, and fair competition.
For smaller retailers like those affected by Shop Direct, the unauthorized scraping feels like an overreach by a dominant player. Chua described feeling "exploited," a sentiment echoed by others who argue that Amazon's scale gives it undue leverage over independent sellers. These businesses often rely on platforms like Shopify to maintain control over their online presence, and sudden integration into Amazon's ecosystem disrupts that autonomy.
Amazon's opt-out process, while straightforward on paper, has not prevented initial listings, leading some critics to question the ethics of proactively scraping public websites. Legal experts note that while public data is generally fair game under current U.S. laws, the use of AI to automate purchases introduces new complexities around liability for errors, such as shipping incorrect items or processing out-of-stock orders.
As the testing phase continues, it's unclear how Amazon will address the growing chorus of complaints. The company has not specified plans to expand Shop Direct beyond its current U.S. beta, but with e-commerce AI agents gaining traction industry-wide, the pressure to refine these tools — and mitigate retailer concerns — is mounting. For now, affected businesses are left navigating the fallout, one unexpected order at a time.
The episode underscores the double-edged nature of AI innovation in retail: promising convenience for shoppers while challenging the sovereignty of smaller players in a market dominated by giants like Amazon. As these technologies mature, balancing expansion with respect for independent sellers will likely define the next chapter in online shopping's evolution.