Prime Day is just around the corner, but sorting through its many thousands of discounts can feel overwhelming. Amazon is hoping Alexa can help you get the products you want at the best prices via its new Alexa for Shopping AI tool, but what exactly is it, how good is it and how you can use it during one of the biggest shopping event of the year?

What is Alexa for Shopping?

Alexa for Shopping is Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, built into the Amazon Shopping app and available on Echo Show devices and via Amazon.com. It can help you discover products, compare prices, track deals and answer shopping-related questions. Ahead of Prime Day, Amazon has introduced several new Alexa for Shopping features aimed at helping you prepare for the sale and navigate deals once the event begins. 

How can Alexa for Shopping help during Prime Day?

Using its database of products, pricing history and your Amazon shopping history and preferences, Alexa for Shopping aims to be the “world’s best, most personalized AI assistant for shopping.” It can help you check prices, get deal alerts and build shopping lists, and even order items for you with just your voice. 

During a short-lived event like Prime Day where the deals come thick and fast, it could be useful for cutting through some of the noise and help you nab some bargains. Being hands-off when researching and buying products won’t appeal to everyone, though. And it might not actually secure you the best deal on the web in all circumstances. 

Read more: You Could Wait Until June 23 for Prime Day, or You Could Just Grab These Device Deals Right Now

How to get a personalized Prime Day deals guide

One of the newest features lets shoppers request a personalized Prime Day deals guide before the event starts. Users can tap the plus icon in the chat and select Prime Day deals. When the sale kicks off, Alexa will generate a custom guide featuring products and discounts based on your shopping history, interests and browsing behavior. The guide will also explain why specific deals were selected. Amazon’s new personalized deals guide is designed to narrow down Prime Day’s massive selection into a smaller list based on your shopping habits.

To create one, open Alexa for Shopping and tap the + icon in the chat bar. Select Prime Day Deals and choose the categories you’re interested in. I haven’t had chance to see a deals guide in full, since they aren’t available until Prime Day starts, but once the event begins, Alexa will create a customized guide with relevant discounts and explanations for why those products were selected. You can also say “Alexa make me a deals guide” on an Alexa device, like the Echo Show 11. 

How to set Prime Day deal alerts

If you’re waiting for a specific product to hit a certain price, Alexa can keep an eye on it for you. On a product page, you can create a price alert by setting a target price. If the item reaches your target during Prime Day, Amazon will notify you so you can decide whether to buy, or you can give it permission to go ahead and make the purchase on your behalf. You can use Alexa for Shopping through the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon.com or compatible Alexa devices like the Echo Show 11. 

To create a deal alert, open the Alexa for Shopping chat, then ask for deals on a specific category or product. For example, try prompts like “Alert me to deals on robot vacuums,” “Let me know when noise-canceling headphones go on sale,” or “Tell me when the 65-inch Roku Plus Series TV drops below $450.”

Alexa will monitor deals and send notifications when matching discounts become available. If you’re using an Echo Show device, you’ll also be able to view recommendations and deal updates directly on-screen.

Some Prime Day discounts disappear quickly, so it might be worth using the auto-buy feature if it’s something you know you want and you know exactly the price you’re willing to pay. How much you trust an AI agent to go out and make a purchase for you, however, is up to you. Alexa can automatically place orders using your default payment method and shipping preferences, much like the Buy Now button that has featured in Amazon’s app for years. 

How can you check whether a Prime Day deal is worth it?

Just because it’s Prime Day doesn’t mean everything is at its cheapest price ever, especially given the increasing cost of tech and other consumer products. That’s why one of the most useful Alexa for Shopping features is its price history tool. You can view up to a year of pricing history on most products to see what the record-low price is in that time or how much it usually drops around certain times of year. 

This can help determine whether a deal is truly worth buying or if it simply looks impressive because of an inflated list price. It’s one of the easiest ways to avoid impulse purchases during Prime Day. 

On supported product pages, ask Alexa about previous pricing. You can view up to a year of historical pricing data by asking questions like “Was this cheaper during last Prime Day?” or “What was the lowest price this year?” and even “How often does this item go on sale?” Price history can help separate the genuinely good prices from the fake deals, though this pricing context only takes into account Amazon’s pricing and doesn’t account for special coupons that may have been offered previously. 

How accurate is Alexa for Shopping in finding deals?

Alexa for Shopping is going to be able to get the latest Amazon prices because Alexa is tied in to Amazon. So, theoretically, as soon as a price drops on Amazon, Alexa for Shopping should know about it and be able to take action. However, there’s more to shopping online than just seeing the price at Amazon.com: In-cart discounts and extra coupons can complicate matters at Amazon, and there’s a vast array of alternate options for the same or similar products across Amazon and all the other major retailers. 

Alexa for Shopping is designed to help you more seamlessly buy things on Amazon, so it’s to be expected that other retailers aren’t factored in, but AI tools such as Alexa for Shopping also aren’t necessarily designed to tell you whether a product is the best option for your needs. 

Even with all the advances in AI over the last several years, CNET’s Deals team still manually assesses deals before they’re covered on the site or in our newsletter or text services, including tracking recent and historic pricing (including over a year, unlike Alexa for Shopping), comparing prices at all the major retailers, hunting down extra coupon codes and working with brands on exclusive offers for our audience. 

All of that is coupled with the work of our team of subject matter experts who go hands-on every day with the latest and greatest products for our reviews and best lists, including real-world and lab-testing. Our goal is to make sure prospective buyers know all the pros and cons of a product before spending a dime. 

Read more: How We Test Products and Services

Is Alexa for Shopping worth using for Prime Day?

The biggest advantage is convenience. Instead of constantly refreshing deal pages, adding items to your cart or wish lists for later or having to remeber to check on an item, Alexa for Shopping can monitor products and track Amazon prices for you. That should help you spend less time doing some of those manual tasks and, ideally, nab the deals you’re looking for as soon as they are available. 

If there’s a specific item you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on, and you know exactly how low you’d want it to go before doing so, then Alexa for Shopping allows you to get alerts or auto-buying set up ahead of time to take the stress out of things. And if you’re generally curious about a product category and need a place to start, Alexa for Shopping can pull together some recommendations based on what you ask for and your previous Amazon purchases. 

It’s not a full replacement for actually doing the research on what products to buy, though, and it won’t give you the complete picture of all of the deals on offer during major shopping events, with the likes of Walmart, Best Buy and Target all running competing sales.