Amazon opens Shop Direct Merchant Workspace to web stores
Amazon has launched the Shop Direct Merchant Workspace, a free self-service portal that lets eligible merchants connect their online stores with Amazon and Alexa for Shopping. Merchants can reuse existing product catalogs and choose which products to make discoverable to Amazon customers.
- Amazon launched a free self-service Shop Direct Merchant Workspace.
- Eligible merchants can reuse existing catalogs and connect through third-party providers.
- Shop Direct products may appear in Amazon and Alexa for Shopping searches.
- Merchants keep control of inventory, pricing, fulfillment and customer service.
- Eligible products may be purchased through Amazon’s Buy for Me tool.
A direct route into Amazon discovery
The new workspace allows merchants to register for Shop Direct, submit product feeds and manage their participation. It also shows which products are active and available to Amazon customers through the program.
Products connected to Shop Direct may appear in relevant searches on Amazon and within Alexa for Shopping. Customers who want more information or want to buy an item can tap the Shop Direct button on its product page. Amazon warns them that they are leaving Amazon before sending them to the merchant’s website, where they can review product details and complete the purchase.
Amazon says Shop Direct has been available since last year. Since then, tens of millions of customers have discovered hundreds of millions of unique products from other stores, while Shop Direct products have appeared in hundreds of millions of searches monthly.
Merchants can reuse existing catalogs
The workspace accepts widely adopted shopping feed formats, so merchants can reuse catalogs created for other shopping destinations rather than building a new catalog from scratch. They can connect through third-party providers including Feedonomics, Salsify, CEDCommerce and VersaFeed, or submit and manage catalogs directly through Amazon’s Selling Partner API, known as SP-API.
Amazon says its AI connector provides customers with near real-time product information. Merchants continue to manage inventory, pricing, order fulfillment and customer service through their existing processes. They can also decide which products to include, and there are no fees to participate in Shop Direct. Merchants may opt out at any time.
To join, merchants create a Shop Direct merchant account, verify their business website, and share their catalog through a solution provider or a direct SP-API integration.
Shop Direct extends Amazon’s shopping tools
Amazon says eligible Shop Direct products may also be purchased with Buy for Me, its agentic buying tool. Customers tap the button and confirm order details, including the delivery address, taxes, shipping fees and payment method, on Amazon’s interface. Amazon’s AI then completes the purchase on the merchant’s website.
Shop Direct is available to all U.S. customers on Amazon.com, the Amazon Shopping app, mobile web browsers and Alexa for Shopping. Shipping, delivery, returns, exchanges and customer service remain the merchant’s responsibility.
“Shop Direct makes it simple for merchants to have their selection discovered by Amazon customers,” Amanda Doerr, vice president of Core Shopping at Amazon, said. According to Amazon, the workspace is intended to help merchants of all sizes reach customers who begin shopping searches on Amazon or Alexa even when the desired product is sold elsewhere on the web.
