Identify that the Christmas movie ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ where in-store Macy’s Santa sends a disorganized shopper to a competitor’s store to find the Christmas gift her son wanted because Macy’s was out of stock? Now Amazon is implementing a similar strategy on the internet. The retailer recently announced the introduction of a new Amazon Shopping feature that will redirect customers to other brands’ websites if they search for a particular product in the app that Amazon doesn’t have.

In the film, the bold marketing strategy improved customer sentiment around Macy’s — and helped cement its reputation as the top place to shop. Amazon likely hopes its decision will evoke the same response, especially given the increased competition from other e-commerce apps such as Temu and Shein.

The retailer stated that the feature is just a beta test at this time and will be activated for a subset of U.S. customers who perform searches in the Amazon Shopping app.

In the new experience, Amazon will show select products in its search results even if it does not sell them. It will link to the retailer’s website so customers can click through, review the product, pricing, and delivery options, and make purchases directly from the brand itself. The product information shown on Amazon is pulled directly from the retailer’s website and is refreshed regularly.

These links to outside retailers will appear alongside other relevant products found in Amazon’s own store, including those from its third-party sellers. Amazon states that it will not be sharing users’ personal information with the brand when they click the links.

When customers click links, they will be notified via a pop-up message saying “You’re leaving Amazon,” so they won’t get confused about where they’re shopping from. Some of the brands Amazon may redirect to will offer Buy with Prime, a checkout service that allows Prime members to make transactions on a retailer’s website using their Amazon account and payment information. The service provides Amazon Prime’s same fast delivery, easy returns, and customer support.

However, Amazon states that the experience will not only include brands offering Buy with Prime. While it could not share a count or name the specific brands that are part of the test, the retailer states that they span various categories.

“We’re constantly working to expand selection and make shopping more convenient for customers,” said Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping, in an announcement about the new feature. “We’re testing bringing more selection and brands into our search results to help customers find even more of what they want and further improve our shopping experience for customers.”

Amazon states the feature will initially be available to select customers on the iOS and Android versions of its mobile app and will be expanded to other customers and brands based on user feedback.

Brands are invited to trial the experience by sending an email to branddirect@amazon.com. They can also contact this email to opt out of inclusion. Amazon asserts it will have no knowledge of how customers interact with the brand’s website after they exit Amazon’s site using the in-app browser.

That may be the case, but even the data about what brands trigger clicks could help Amazon learn about products to stock and which brands it should court.

Over the past year, the retailer has added more premium and luxury brands to its lineup, including Clinique, Estée Lauder, Oura Rings, Armani Beauty, Kate Spade New York, Kiehl’s, and Dolce & Gabbana Beauty. On the flip side, it’s challenged Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop with its own low-priced products.