Amazon’s free Shop Direct Merchant Workspace gives eligible U.S. retailers a new way to make products discoverable through Amazon and Alexa for Shopping without listing them in Amazon’s marketplace. Participation remains subject to eligibility and Amazon approval.
Amazon introduced the self-service offering on November 4, 2026. A product feed is structured product and offer data sent to a shopping service so it can identify, display, and update items. For stores with products beyond their current Amazon assortment, this creates another possible source of customer discovery.
Key Takeaways
- The Workspace is free for eligible merchants.
- Products can be discovered without marketplace listings.
- Amazon approval is required.
- Retailers retain their own store operations.
- Participation offers an additional route to discovery.
For retailers with products beyond their current Amazon assortment, the launch creates another route to product discovery.
How the Amazon Shop Direct Merchant Workspace 2026 Connects Retailers
Retailers use the Workspace to register, submit product feeds, manage participation, and check which items are available to Amazon customers. That visibility helps a shop direct merchant see which submitted products can appear through the program.
The merchant workspace supports participation management, not just feed submission. Amazon’s November 4 announcement describes the Shop Direct Merchant Workspace as a free, self-service portal for eligible merchants.
Portal controls for product participation
After registering, merchants submit their catalog data and manage which products they put forward. The portal shows which products are available to Amazon customers, giving retailers a way to review participation at the item level.
The direct merchant workspace also lets merchants oversee their program involvement. They can decide which products to submit rather than sending their entire store assortment automatically.
Submitting a catalog does not mean every item will be available to Amazon customers.
For merchants connect workflows, the portal provides a place to check product availability after data is submitted. That view can help a retailer spot differences between the assortment it intended to offer and the products shown as available.
Reusing and syncing product feeds
Merchants can reuse product catalogs they already maintain for other shopping services. The four supported feed connections are Feedonomics, Salsify, CEDCommerce, and VersaFeed, so retailers may build on existing catalog work rather than create every product record again.
Real-time syncing of catalog, pricing, and inventory information is available through Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce. VersaFeed is also a supported connection, but it is not included in that stated real-time sync group.
Existing product feeds can carry useful work forward, though their accuracy still matters. Before connecting a feed, confirm which catalog fields the existing setup can send reliably.
How Customers Discover and Buy Shop Direct Products
Customers have two possible routes: leave Amazon to buy on the retailer’s site, or use Buy for Me for an eligible item. Shop Direct products may appear in Amazon search and Alexa for Shopping, across these U.S. access points:
- Amazon.com
- Amazon Shopping app
- Mobile web browsers
- Alexa for Shopping
Shop Direct includes over 100 million products from more than 400,000 merchants, with tens of millions available through Buy for Me. In 2026, Amazon referred customers millions of times to products from stores across the web.
More than 400 million customers used Alexa for Shopping in the previous 12 months in 2026, and use of agentic features grew more than eight times since that year began. Rufus helped over 300 million customers research, compare, and buy products in 2025. U.S. customers can use Alexa for Shopping on Amazon.com and the Amazon Shopping app without Prime or an Echo device. Retail Dive’s Alexa for Shopping coverage also reported more than 350 million users in the prior 12 months during Q2 2026.
| Option | Customer action | Checkout | Merchant role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop Direct | Sees notice before leaving Amazon | Completes purchase on retailer’s site | Runs its store checkout |
| Buy for Me | Confirms address, taxes, shipping fees, and payment on Amazon | Amazon’s AI completes eligible purchase on merchant site | Receives customer name and address |
| Shared post-purchase responsibility | Contacts merchant for service | Order is placed through either route | Manages delivery, returns, exchanges, and customer service |
Buy for Me changes where the customer confirms the order, not who manages delivery and post-purchase service.
Which Retailers and Products Qualify for Shop Direct?
Shop Direct is aimed at eligible U.S. retailers with their own online stores, physical products, and the ability to ship to U.S. customers, but Amazon approval is required. Business model matters: some online sellers do not fit the program’s retail requirements.
Products already listed in Amazon’s marketplace are ineligible, even when the seller otherwise qualifies. Existing Amazon sellers can submit eligible items outside their current marketplace assortment.
Merchant eligibility and exclusions
Eligible participants include direct-to-consumer brands and multi-brand retailers that run their own online stores and sell physical goods. They must ship to U.S. customers, and participation remains subject to Amazon approval.
Membership-only or gated storefronts do not qualify. The exclusions also cover B2B marketplaces or wholesalers that require buyer verification, off-price retailers with rapidly changing inventory, and affiliate websites that redirect shoppers to third-party retailers.
Product eligibility and feed preparation
Perishable goods, digital products, secondhand or refurbished items, and certain regulated products are excluded. Merchants remain responsible for inventory, pricing, fulfillment, and customer service, whether customers buy through their store or an eligible Buy for Me order.
Participation is voluntary. Merchants choose which products to submit and may leave the program at any time. Product records should include SKUs, GTINs, MPNs, brand names, and relationships between variants such as sizes or colors.
Accurate titles, descriptions, images, and categories help represent each product clearly. Relevant specifications can include size, material, or compatibility. Offer data should include product URLs, prices, currency, and availability that match the retailer’s online store.
Do not submit a marketplace-listed product or an offer whose price or availability no longer matches the retailer’s site.
A product feed needs to reflect what the store can actually sell and fulfill. Check marketplace listing status and make sure each submitted offer matches the live store before sending product data.
Conclusion
For retailers with eligible off-marketplace products, Shop Direct is an additional discovery route rather than a replacement for their own store operations. Merchants keep responsibility for the customer experience, including accurate store information and post-purchase service.
The decision starts with two checks: whether the retailer has suitable products outside its current Amazon listings, and whether its store information can stay accurate. A carefully chosen assortment gives the retailer a focused way to test participation without treating the program as a substitute for its own sales channel.
Identify the products that fit the program, then begin registration through the Shop Direct Merchant Workspace.