Imagine a chatbots trained mainly on the Amazon catalog and its customers’ reviews, as well as with the information available on the web, who can therefore answer questions regarding the products, make comparisons, provide suggestions, etc.: in practice a Amazon personal shopper. Have you imagined it? You don’t have to try too hard, because it already exists: it’s called Rufusand obviously Amazon developed it themselves.
What does Amazon’s Rufus do?
Rufus is still in the beta testing phase, yet its feature set is already quite extensive:
- Product search in an unconventional sense, for example by asking for advice on choosing the product itself, on what certain types are, or based on what you have to do (dinner, sports, events, gardening, etc.).
- comparison not only between products but between entire categories: “what is the difference between lip gloss and lip oil?” or “what’s the difference between a moka and an orziera?”. In short, rather than relying on the product, you can base yourself on the use you want to make of it.
- Personalized advice: “what can I give my wife for Valentine’s Day?” or “best LEGOs for a 4 year old.”
- Provide information about a specific product: apart from what has been said so far, Rufus can be used to answer questions about a single product you are undecided about, for example you can ask if a certain toy is safe for a small child, or if a backpack you are considering is large enough to hold clothes and shoes.
Rufus will combine answers that you could still find on Amazon (but which are not necessarily obvious) with others available on the web, in order to offer the most complete overview possible of the products you are looking for.
Who can use Rufus
Rufus is still in beta testing, but is already available for a limited number of Amazon customers in the US within the app Amazon Shopping for iPhone and Android.
To interact with the chatbot it is enough write or dictate vocally your questions in the search bar and Rufus will appear at the bottom of the screen, but with a swipe down you can return to the traditional search at any time.
In next weeks the beta trial will be extended to other American customers, but there is no information yet about the international launch of Rufusalthough other chatbots have already shown that the language barrier is hardly a real problem, so the ball is in Amazon’s court.
