Amazon launches AI-generated ‘canvas’ for sellers as e-commerce platforms race to add AI tools – GeekWire
Amazon is adding a new layer to its AI tools for online retailers, rolling out a feature that provides customizable, interactive dashboards and real-time status planning.
The “flexible canvas” in Amazon’s Seller Central displays data, charts and different options for sellers in response to user input. It extends the existing Seller Assistant, an AI chat tool introduced by Amazon in 2024 and later enhanced with agent capabilities.
“It’s the difference between giving someone a better calculator and giving them a financial advisor who really understands their business inside and out,” said Mary Beth Westmoreland, Amazon’s vice president of Worldwide Selling Partner Experience, in an interview.
The announcement comes as e-commerce platforms race to embed AI into their tools. Shopify offers its Magic Assistants and Sidekick AI. Walmart built a tool called Wally for retailers and partnered with OpenAI and Google to allow shoppers to use chatbots to make purchases.
The financial numbers are high for Amazon: Independent sellers make up more than 60% of Amazon’s store sales, and third-party seller services generated more than $172 billion in revenue for the Seattle-based company in its most recent fiscal year.
Not all marketers have embraced AI tools. An Amazon Seller Central forum post announcing the update four months ago drew 36 thumbs down votes to 5 thumbs up. Sellers complain about broken links, generic recommendations and, in some cases, AI feedback that advises a seller facing a false policy violation to seek legal action from Amazon.
Asked about the platform’s response, Westmoreland cited internal data showing that sellers accept Seller Assistant’s recommendations about 90% of the time, as an indicator of its effectiveness.
The new Seller Assistant canvas goes further to provide “more context to sellers in a visual way” that helps them understand recommendations more deeply, he said.
Marketers can ask questions like “How do my products work?” and canvas generates charts that show sales trends, traffic and inventory health. They can also explore scenarios such as “What if demand drops by 10%?” and see the projected impacts on revenue and cash flow before committing to a decision.
Most of the interface is dynamically generated by AI rather than drawn from preset templates. The program works on Amazon Bedrock using Amazon’s Nova and Anthropic’s Claude models. Westmoreland said Amazon is building a structure to switch between models as needed.
Seller Assistant Canvas will be available from Tuesday to all US and UK sellers at no additional cost. It starts with performance analysis tools, and Amazon plans to add marketing optimization, inventory planning and product launch features in the coming months.
