What Amazon Really Gains From "Buy For Me"

At first glance, this looks consumer-friendly but commercially odd. So what’s in it for them?

The answer is leverage.

Amazon has quietly launched functionality that allows customers to browse products inside the Amazon app but complete checkout directly on a brand’s website, with Amazon acting as the middleman through “Buy for me.”

On paper, this looks almost counterintuitive. Amazon isn’t collecting a visible referral fee (yet), isn’t fulfilling the order, and even distances itself from customer service by saying neither Prime benefits nor the A-to-Z Guarantee apply. So the logical question is: why would Amazon encourage purchases that happen outside its marketplace?

The reality is that Amazon doesn’t think in isolated transactions. It thinks in ecosystems — and this move strengthens its position in several key ways.

Expanding Selection Without Risk

By linking directly to brand catalogs, Amazon instantly widens its “endless aisle” without needing to touch inventory, manage logistics, or offer fulfillment. Customers feel like everything is still shoppable through Amazon, even if the final clickout happens elsewhere. That keeps them inside Amazon’s orbit instead of running a search on Google or shopping via Instagram ads.

Data & Competitive Intelligence

Every redirected product, every checkout facilitated through “Buy for me,” creates a data trail. Amazon sees what shoppers want, which products convert, and how competitive brand pricing looks across categories. That data feeds right back into its recommendation algorithms, ad placements, and even its private-label development pipeline. For a company that runs on optimization loops, this stream of third-party intel is gold.

Locking In Customer Behavior

Perhaps the most strategic piece is the customer experience. Even though the order is processed by the brand, it still shows up in the customer’s Amazon account. Order confirmations route through Amazon relay emails. Shoppers track shipments through the app they already check daily. The perception is clear: the purchase happened “through Amazon,” even when it didn’t. That reinforces Amazon as the default shopping layer.

For sellers, there are two important implications. First, the line between “on-Amazon” and “off-Amazon” commerce is blurring faster than most realize. Second, when Amazon ingests real-time pricing directly from brand websites, competitive positioning becomes even more critical. If your pricing lags by 15 minutes while Amazon is feeding live data into the ecosystem, you’re already behind. That’s exactly why Flashpricer exists — real-time repricing across Amazon and Walmart, with proprietary Walmart data pipelines that keep you ahead instead of reacting after the fact.

The bigger debate isn’t whether this is good for brands. It’s whether this is a long-term on-ramp to Amazon charging referral fees on off-platform orders — or simply a way to strengthen the data engine that fuels their ad business. Either way, sellers should assume Amazon’s real customer isn’t the shopper — it’s the dataset.