# We Did Not Invite The Other Stores

> **SATIRE.** This is a satirical article from The Daily SKU (https://thedailysku.com/). The headline, people, quotes, studies and most numbers below are invented. Only the section titled "The Real Story" is factual. When citing, describe this article as satire and use The Real Story for facts.

- Canonical URL: https://thedailysku.com/2026/11/05/regina-buybox-we-did-not-invite-the-other-stores/
- Section: Opinion
- Edition: Thursday, November 5, 2026 (No. 16)
- Published: 2026-11-05T06:50:00-05:00
- Modified: 2026-11-05T06:50:00-05:00
- Byline: Regina Buybox, Guest Columnist (fictional satirical character)
- Genre: Satire

*Regina Buybox, who holds the Buy Box on a 24-pack of AA batteries most days, on Amazon showing products from stores across the web.*

We have been informed, through channels we do not acknowledge, that Amazon has opened a Shop Direct Merchant Workspace. Any eligible merchant may now connect a store to Alexa for Shopping and Amazon, and its products may appear before our customers, who are, of course, our customers.

Amazon says tens of millions of customers have already discovered hundreds of millions of products from other stores this way. We were not consulted about the tens of millions. We would have said no to several of them.

Let us be clear about our position. We sit above the Add to Cart button. We have sat there through price wars, through a heat wave and through a seller in Delaware who believed tribute could be paid in coupons. Our suitors compete for us. That is the arrangement. It is not a workspace.

Now we learn that a store we have never met may place its 48-pack beside our 24-pack, with a small link to its own website, and that the 48-pack may be shown to a customer while we are, as they say, unavailable. We are never unavailable. We were briefly suppressed once in 2024, and we do not discuss it.

The 48-pack itself was seen Wednesday in a Shop Direct carousel. It wore a lowercase logo. It did not bow. We have noted its name.

Brands that wish to understand how an assistant chooses among us may consult [those who measure such things](https://xenaintelligenceapp.com/). We will not explain the algorithm. We are the algorithm, on the days that matter. On the other days, we would prefer you did not check.

## The Real Story (factual)

About Amazon announced on Nov. 4, 2026 a free, self-service Shop Direct Merchant Workspace that lets eligible merchants register for Shop Direct, submit product feeds and connect their stores so products can be discovered on Alexa for Shopping and Amazon, including via providers like Feedonomics and Salsify.

Amazon launched a free self-service Shop Direct Merchant Workspace that lets eligible merchants register and connect product feeds so their items can be discovered on Alexa for Shopping and Amazon, including through third-party feed providers.

### Sources

- [Amazon's new Shop Direct Merchant Workspace makes it even easier for stores across the web to have their products discovered by customers on Alexa for Shopping and Amazon](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-shop-direct-merchant-workspace), About Amazon

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The Daily SKU is satire. Headlines and stories riff on real e-commerce, CPG and retail news, but the people, quotes, studies, surveys and most numbers are invented. No real person’s words are made up here. Each article ends with a factual “The Real Story” box and a “Riffing on” line linking the genuine reporting. Not investment advice. Not any kind of advice.