Amazon now lets some shoppers in the US text Alexa the way they would text a friend: “I’m out of dog food,” “reorder the detergent,” “tell me when AirPods go on sale.” Text Alexa shopping started rolling out on November 6 to a small group of customers by invitation only, and Amazon says millions more will get invites in the coming weeks. It can build your cart, place the order and send delivery updates in the same text thread.
The short version
Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping assistant now works over plain text messages for a first group of invited US customers. It can search, compare, fill your cart and buy, so it is worth knowing where the approval steps sit before you link your number.
- Texting started on November 6, 2026, for a small invite-only group in the US, with more invites coming over the next few weeks.
- You join by accepting the terms and linking your phone number; the contact shows up as “Alexa Shopping.”
- It can show up to a full year of price history and watch for price drops before the holiday sales.
- Amazon says reorders go through “with your approval,” but you can also tell it to add items to your cart automatically or to buy when a price hits your target.
- The downside: it learns from your shopping history and what you tell it, so treat every text to it as something Amazon keeps.
How text Alexa shopping works
Alexa for Shopping is the AI shopping assistant that already lives in the Amazon Shopping app and on Amazon.com. The new part is that it now has its own phone contact. According to Amazon’s announcement, invited customers get a text message, accept the terms, link their phone number and start texting.
From there you can send requests in normal language. Amazon’s examples include a weekly grocery order, a birthday gift that has to arrive by Saturday, a photo of an outfit you spotted while scrolling, and a three-item to-do list in one message. Alexa replies with suggestions, adds things to your cart and, when you are ready, completes the purchase.
Amazon’s own example screens show the flow clearly: Alexa finds the item, shows the total and delivery date, and waits for you to tap “Place order.” After the order goes through, the thread shows an “Undo order” button.
What you can ask it to do
- Reorder something. “Reorder the laundry detergent I bought last month.”
- Check price history. Ask for the price history on an item and it shows up to a full year of prices.
- Watch for a price drop. “Let me know when AirPods go on sale.”
- Shop from a photo. Send a picture and it looks for similar products.
- Track a package. “Where’s my package?” gets an update without opening the app.
- Manage lists. Add oat milk to a grocery list or start a holiday gift list.
- Look beyond Amazon. Through a feature called Shop Direct, it can show products from other stores on the web.
A request you start in a text can carry over to the Amazon app, the website and Alexa devices, and the other way round. Amazon also says your order updates, delivery notices and deals will land in the same thread over time.
How to get an invite
- Watch for a text from Amazon inviting you to try it. Amazon is sending these to a subset of US customers first.
- If you have not been invited, sign up on Amazon’s own page at amazon.com/text-alexa-shopping to hear when more invites go out.
- Accept the terms and link your phone number. The new contact appears as “Alexa Shopping.”
One habit worth keeping: if a text about Alexa shopping arrives with a link, you do not have to tap it. Type amazon.com into your browser and go to the sign-up page yourself. It is the same rule TechCity uses for spotting fake shopping sites this season.
Where the approval steps are
What changes for you: this is a shopping assistant that can spend your money from a text message, so the useful question is when it asks first and when it does not.
- Reorders: Amazon says Alexa finds the item and buys it “with your approval.”
- Auto-add to cart: you can tell it “add items to my cart automatically.” Leave that off if more than one person can see your phone’s texts.
- Auto-buy: Amazon lists auto-buy as a way to “complete a purchase when the price is right.” Set it only for things you would buy anyway, with a target price you picked.
- Memory: it remembers what you tell it, such as “only show me organic options,” and Amazon says the more you use it, the more it learns your habits.
Before you link your number, check which card is your default payment method on Amazon, because that is the one a text order will use. If you share a phone or tablet with kids, think twice about turning on automatic buying at all. TechCity has written before about what happens when AI agents are handed spending limits, and the safest setting is still the one where you tap the button yourself.
Should you try it before Black Friday?
The price history feature is the most useful part for the next few weeks. Black Friday is November 27, and a year of price data is a quick way to see whether a “deal” is really a deal. You can pair it with TechCity’s checklist on how to tell if a Black Friday deal is real.
Amazon says more than 400 million customers used Alexa for Shopping in the last 12 months, so this is not a small test. If you already shop on Amazon every week, texting it could save a few taps. If you prefer to see every price before you pay, keep using the app and leave the auto features off.
