Not sure what to buy? Amazon’s latest shopping tool can help you decide – here’s how it works

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Amazon has a new tool to help you decide between similar items.
• Help Me Decide considers your order history and preferences.
• After your recommendation, you have budget and upgrade options.

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If wading through online reviews and trying to compare specifics between products gives you decision paralysis, Amazon has a new tool to help.

Amazon has announced a new tool called “Help Me Decide” that assists you in finding the perfect product for your needs. 

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As the company explains, the feature uses AI (large language models and AWS services like Amazon Bedrock, Amazon OpenSearch, and Amazon SageMaker) to analyze product details and customer reviews and then accounts for your previous purchases and personal preferences to make a recommendation specific to you.

For example, Amazon says, if you’re shopping for a camping tent, Help Me Decide will analyze the tents you’ve viewed plus other details from your shopping history. If you’ve browsed for both adult and kids’ sleeping bags for very cold temperatures and also shopped for stoves for car camping, Help Me Decide knows you’re planning a family camping trip and might recommend a four-person tent that’s big enough for everyone. 

Amazon says recommendations will include an explanation as to why the tool recommended that item for you. 

This is just the latest in Amazon’s AI-powered innovations to help you shop. The AI-powered “Interests” feature scans for new products matching your personalized prompts and notifies you about new items, the “Shopping Guides” feature simplifies research by compiling expert guidance and product recommendations, and the site’s AI shopping assistant, Rufus, answers your questions about products in real time and even accesses previous orders.

Amazon didn’t say how the AI will choose which products to recommend or whether there will ultimately be paid placements or partnerships; I’ve reached out for more information.  

How to use Amazon’s Help Me Decide

When you use the Amazon Shopping app or the Amazon mobile browser, the Help Me Decide button appears after you’ve viewed several similar items. (You can also go directly to it by tapping “Keep shopping for” at the top of the homepage.)

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Tap the button, and you’ll see a product recommendation. If you want more options, you can also see an “upgrade” or “budget” pick.

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