Amazon now lists 250 million products it doesn't even sell

Amazon now shows 250 million product links for items it does not sell. The program is called Shop Direct. When a shopper clicks one, the purchase is finished on the other store's website, not on Amazon. The Information reported the expansion on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

What changed

Since March, Amazon has grown the number of Shop Direct links by 2.5 times. It has also shown these listings more prominently, added items from new brands, and started showing more product details on its own site. In March, the program held 100 million products from 400,000 merchants.

The aim is to keep people searching on Amazon instead of using outside personal AI agents, which are AI assistants that search and shop for you. Amazon says tens of millions of customers have found products this way, and that Shop Direct items appear in hundreds of millions of searches each month.

Who it affects

Shoppers get a wider selection inside the Amazon app and site. Sellers may get a new way to be found. In March, Amazon said merchants could sync their catalog, pricing and inventory using the same product feeds they already give to Feedonomics, Salsify and CedCommerce. Those are services that pass product data to many stores.

What is not known

The report does not say what joining costs, how many sales Shop Direct has produced, or whether outside AI assistants are actually pulling shoppers away from Amazon.