# Amazon's Alexa for Shopping Can Now Skip Subscriptions, Change Delivery Instructions and Chase Refunds

Times of AI Desk · 2026-10-29 · Products

[https://timesof.ai/2026/10/amazon-alexa-shopping-subscriptions-delivery-actions](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/amazon-alexa-shopping-subscriptions-delivery-actions)

> Amazon said on Oct. 29 that Alexa for Shopping, the assistant in its shopping app and website, now handles more than 100 new actions, including editing lists and registries, managing Subscribe & Save deliveries, updating delivery instructions and answering billing and refund questions. It is available to all U.S. customers. Amazon says 400 million customers used the assistant in the past year; usage figures are Amazon's own.

Most of what Amazon added to its shopping assistant is customer service, not shopping. Of the more than 100 new actions Amazon announced on **October 29** for **Alexa for Shopping**, the headline examples are account chores: skipping a Subscribe & Save delivery, changing delivery instructions, checking a refund or querying an unrecognised charge. That puts the agent in front of the support queue as well as the product search.

## What it can do now

Amazon says customers can now ask the assistant to create and edit lists and registries and move items between them; skip, pause or change the frequency of Subscribe & Save deliveries; check Prime benefits and savings and Audible renewal dates; update delivery instructions; and resolve billing questions, view gift card balances and check on refunds. The features are available to all U.S. customers through the Alexa icon in the Amazon Shopping app or at the top of the screen on desktop, the company says. TechCrunch reported the same set of list, subscription and delivery-instruction features.

The assistant already researches products, tracks price history and can buy an item automatically when it reaches a customer's target price, Amazon says.

## Amazon's numbers

More than 400 million customers have used Alexa for Shopping in the past 12 months, and the number using its agentic features has grown more than eightfold since the start of the year, Amazon says. "Alexa for Shopping can now help with more than 100 brand-new shopping actions," said **Rajiv Mehta**, Amazon's vice president of conversational shopping.

Amazon repeated the figures in its third-quarter results, released the same day, and added one more: customer interactions with Alexa for Shopping were up 570% from a year earlier. The release lists the assistant among the quarter's retail highlights, together with the 100+ new capabilities. Neither figure is defined further.

## Inside the walls

The new actions are account chores, and on Amazon only Amazon's own agent can do them. TechCrunch reported on October 21 that Amazon has begun blocking outside AI agents. The same day, [Walmart set out terms for outside agents](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/walmart-agent-gateway-mcp-agent-profiles-spending-limits): an MCP gateway for approved agents, per-agent profiles with spending limits, and a rule that agents that break its terms will be blocked. Assistants that complete purchases are also spreading beyond retailers' own apps, as Microsoft showed with [Copilot Checkout](https://timesof.ai/2026/01/microsoft-copilot-checkout-agentic-commerce).

These are two ways of owning the customer relationship. Walmart is betting that shoppers will bring their own agents and is setting rules for them. Amazon is betting that its own assistant can handle enough tasks, including skipping a delivery or chasing a refund, that shoppers will not want an outside one. The new actions also make the second approach easier to defend, because each task Amazon's assistant handles is one fewer reason to let an outside agent into a customer's account.

## Limits

- The 400 million users, eightfold growth and 570% interaction figures are Amazon's and are not defined further; "used" may include brief interactions.
- The "Inside the walls" section is analysis. TechCrunch's report that Amazon is blocking agents does not detail which agents or how.
- The "100+" count is Amazon's own tally of capabilities.
- The release does not say whether any actions require confirmation before they take effect.

## Sources

- [Amazon: Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Results (October 29, 2026)](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-release/news-release-details/2026/Amazon-com-Announces-Third-Quarter-Results/)
- [TechCrunch: While Amazon blocks AI agents, Walmart rolls out the welcome mat (October 21, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/while-amazon-blocks-ai-agents-walmart-rolls-out-the-welcome-mat/)
- [Walmart: Walmart Makes It Possible for Agents to Shop on Behalf of Customers, While Keeping Customers in Control (October 21, 2026)](https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/10/Making-It-Possible-for-Agents-to-Shop-on-Behalf-of-Customers)
- [About Amazon: Alexa for Shopping adds 100+ new capabilities to make shopping even faster and easier (October 29, 2026)](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/alexa-for-shopping-new-capabilities)
- [TechCrunch: Amazon updates Alexa to help you manage shopping lists, subscriptions, and update delivery instructions (October 29, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/29/amazon-updates-alexa-to-help-you-manage-shopping-lists-subscriptions-and-update-delivery-instructions/)