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Rufus, a generative AI expert, aimed at enhancing customer experience by making shopping more easier and convenient, is now launched in India on 27th August 2024. With its initial rollout in the US earlier this year, Rufus is now open to only select customers for now. “Customers in the U.S. have already asked Rufus tens of millions of questions, and we’re excited to introduce it in India.” said Amazon in a blog post.
Rufus’ Generative AI Capabilities
In a blog post, Amazon detailed how Rufus seamlessly transforms the customer’s shopping experience through a wide range of queries. The aim is to maximise AI to effectively meet the customers’ needs.
Per Amazon, customers using Rufus on Amazon.in can enhance their shopping experience in several ways. They are offered tailored information, product comparisons, personalised recommendations, among other things.
Rufus & India’s E-commerce Space
Rufus is not new to this market. In 2023, Myntra collaborated with Microsoft to launch “My Stylist” a feature that recommends complete, shoppable looks tailored for fashion-forward customers. In the same year, they launched MyFashionGPT, a tool that enables users to search using natural language to give relevant suggestions. Even Flipkart leveraged LLMs, through AI-driven ‘Flippi’ to simplify shopping experience. As of last week, Seematti, a retail brand, launched India’s inaugural AI fashion ambassador, Isha Ravi, who as an Indian young woman with a passion for colour and travel, represents the brand in the Indian landscape.
In the past 25 years, Amazon has built their suite of AI backed customer offerings. Personalised recommendations, like Alexa, have been successful for Amazon in the past.
Amazon’s AI generated review highlights and product listings have enabled customers to shop better in the past. Rufus is at the heart of this AI expansion. Speaking on the potential of Generative AI in the e-commerce space, Amazon recognises that while Generative AI is still in its early stages, they are committed to improving their models and make Rufus better over time. In the upcoming weeks, the beta version of Rufus will be extended to more customers.
