For years, Amazon has been laser-focused on keeping shoppers inside its ecosystem, but a new search experiment is flipping that strategy on its head.

Amazon now displays products it doesn’t even sell in its search results—complete with direct links to the brand’s website.

Yes, you read that right. Amazon is now sending shoppers off-site.

This shift could transform the e-commerce landscape for brands, but the real question is: Who benefits the most?
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What’s Changing in Amazon Search?

Amazon has begun testing a feature where certain searches will display:

• Amazon-listed products as usual.

• External products sold only on the brand’s website, with a direct link to their DTC store.

If a customer clicks on an off-site listing, they will be redirected away from Amazon to the brand’s website. If the brand offers Buy with Prime, customers can still enjoy Prime benefits like fast, free shipping and easy returns.

Currently, this test is limited to a subset of U.S. customers using the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android, but if it expands, it could radically shift how sellers approach their Amazon strategies.
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What Does This Mean for Brands and Sellers?

✅ More Traffic for DTC Brands?

This could be a huge win for brands investing in direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies. Amazon might be sending organic traffic to its own websites, potentially reducing its reliance on marketplace sales and giving it more control over branding, pricing, and customer relationships.

But does this signal a friendlier Amazon? Not so fast.

❌ More Competition for Amazon Sellers?

Amazon third-party sellers are now competing on two fronts:

Against Amazon itself—which has historically given preference to its own private-label products.

Against DTC brands that Amazon is now promoting in its own search results.

If a brand can drive Amazon traffic directly to their own store, why would they sell on Amazon at all?

That brings us to the bigger picture.
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What’s Amazon’s Endgame?

Amazon isn’t just experimenting—it’s collecting data at an unprecedented scale.

By tracking where shoppers go and what they buy off-site, Amazon gains:

• Insights into which products shoppers are willing to leave Amazon for.

• Data on which DTC brands are thriving without its marketplace.

• A roadmap for what categories Amazon should dominate next.

Amazon has a history of using third-party data to inform its own private-label expansion. If it notices a surge of traffic leaving Amazon for certain categories, don’t be surprised if it launches its own competing products or adjusts ad costs to keep those brands dependent on Amazon’s ecosystem.

This is not just a feature test—it’s a long-term data collection strategy.
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Is This a Win for Brands or a Power Move by Amazon?

So, is this a golden opportunity or a Trojan horse?

On the one hand, brands frustrated with Amazon’s high fees, strict policies, and competitive pressures now have an alternative way to leverage Amazon’s traffic without being trapped in its ecosystem.

On the other hand, Amazon has never been known for playing fair. If history tells us anything, it’s that when Amazon experiments, it’s always thinking ten steps ahead.
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How Should Sellers Prepare?

For now, this is just a test, but if Amazon fully rolls this out, sellers need to be ready. Here’s how:

• Diversify Your Sales Channels: Don’t rely solely on Amazon—invest in your DTC site and other marketplaces.

• Optimize for Amazon’s AI (Rufus & COSMO): With AI-driven search growing, ensuring Amazon’s AI understands and recommends your products is key to staying visible.

• Monitor Changes in Search Performance: Keep a close eye on how your rankings, traffic, and conversions shift over time.

• Rethink Your PPC Strategy: If Amazon starts directing traffic off-site, advertising costs could change dramatically—be prepared to pivot.

Amazon’s search changes will redefine the marketplace, and sellers who adapt early will be the ones who win.

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