Amazon launched the Shop Direct Merchant Workspace on November 4, 2026. It is a free, self-service portal where eligible online stores can submit product feeds and have their products shown to US shoppers in Amazon search and inside Alexa for Shopping, without selling in Amazon's store. That matters to every US seller, because the products you compete against in search are no longer only other Amazon sellers.
According to the official Amazon announcement, Shop Direct products already appear in hundreds of millions of searches each month, and the new Workspace is meant to make it faster for more merchants to join.
What exactly is changing?
Self-service sign-up: Merchants create a Shop Direct account, verify their business website and share their catalog. Before this, joining ran through a feed provider's account team.
Existing feeds are reused: The Workspace accepts widely used shopping feed formats, so a catalog already built for other shopping destinations can be submitted with little rework.
Four feed partners plus the API: Merchants can connect through Feedonomics, Salsify, CEDCommerce or VersaFeed, or integrate directly with the Selling Partner API.
No fees: Amazon says there are no fees to participate, merchants choose which items to include and can opt out at any time.
Labeled in search: Shop Direct items appear in relevant Amazon searches labeled "Shop Direct". Shoppers either click through to the merchant's site or, when eligible, use Buy for Me, where Amazon's AI completes the purchase on the merchant's website.
Merchant keeps operations: Pricing, inventory, fulfillment, returns and customer service stay with the merchant.
Existing Amazon sellers can join too: Sellers may be eligible to list selection they do not currently sell in Amazon's store by emailing shopdirect@amazon.com.
Why does this matter for sellers?
Amazon search is becoming a shelf that includes products from stores that pay no referral fees, no FBA fees and no ad costs to be there. Amazon has not said how Shop Direct items rank against products sold in its store, and it has not shared click or conversion data for these listings. So nobody outside Amazon knows yet how much traffic they take. What we do know is that the program is built to catch searches Amazon cannot currently fill, and the new portal is designed to grow it quickly.
There is also an opportunity here. If you keep part of your range off Amazon, such as DTC-only bundles, sizes or colors, Shop Direct gives that selection a free route into Amazon search and Alexa for Shopping while you keep the sale on your own site. The program is US only.
What should sellers do now?
Watch your top search terms: Check your main keywords on Amazon for "Shop Direct" labeled results and note which outside stores show up next to your listings.
Map your off-Amazon selection: List the products you sell on your own site but not on Amazon, and decide whether they belong in Shop Direct or in your Amazon catalog.
Ask before you join: If you already sell on Amazon, email shopdirect@amazon.com to confirm eligibility instead of using the Workspace.
Tighten your listings: When outside stores share the results page, a complete title, strong images and accurate attributes are what keep the click on your offer.
eStore Factory Tip: Shop Direct adds more competition to the same search results page, so the listing itself has to do more of the selling. Our Amazon product listing optimization team can audit your top ASINs and make sure they win the click against both Amazon sellers and outside stores.
