Maria Diaz/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event returns Oct. 7-8, essentially the kick-off to the 2025 holiday shopping season. Prime shoppers can expect savings across various categories including beauty, electronics, seasonal essentials, must-have gifts, and toys, according to the e-commerce giant. You can also anticipate savings on brands like Samsung, LG, Sonos, and Dyson. Also: Worried about rising tech prices? Try these 5 easy ways to shop smarter right now If you're gearing up to shop on Prime Day in a couple weeks, make sure you know how to use Amazon's internal tools to make your experience easier and more seamless. Plus, these handy features are all free with a Prime membership, so no surprise charges are headed your way -- except maybe some holiday gifts. 5 free Prime tools to use this Prime Day Rufus Last September, Amazon unveiled Rufus, its AI shopping assistant, to U.S. customers on desktop and in the Amazon app. Rufus is designed to use generative AI to power a conversational shopping experience. It aims to helps customers save time and make more informed purchase decisions by answering questions on various shopping needs and products. During your Prime Day prep, Rufus can help you source gifts for everyone on your list, plan meals, and find dozens of items such as indoor and outdoor decor, to help you celebrate the holiday season. Also: Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus rolls out to all U.S. customers I like using Rufus as a jumping-off point for my holiday shopping, checking out recommendations for broader categories to help narrow my search. I also enjoy using it to help with menial tasks like checking in on orders and deliveries. The AI summaries are a great place to start if you're researching a product you want to purchase in the coming weeks. They can help you better understand what you're looking for in an item or other concerns you may wish to investigate further. The Rufus button via Amazon on desktop. Screenshot by Kayla Solino/ZDNET Looking for Rufus? To find Rufus, make sure you've updated your Amazon Shopping app to the latest version and then tap the Rufus icon. It looks like some chat bubbles with a sort of sparkle on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. If you're on a desktop, Rufus is found by clicking the Rufus button in the top-left of the Amazon website's navigation bar 2. Amazon Lens Amazon Lens is not a new tool, but it is a cool one. Lens is a visual search tool that makes it easy to locate products. Live Lens, the latest iteration that launched in September, takes it one step further. You can scan products, find real-time matches in a carousel, and find insights and answers via Live Lens. Watch Amazon Lens in action. Maria Diaz/ZDNET Live Lens is beneficial if you're shopping both brick-and-mortar and online stores. You can scan a product in-store to see if Amazon is carrying it for a better deal or locate similar options. Also: This Amazon Lens upgrade lets you scan a product IRL and find it online in one click Rufus is also integrated into visual search tool, so you'll be offered suggestions and summaries without leaving the Lens Live camera view. Although the Lens tools have differences, they're both incredibly helpful if you're shopping for a large number of people this holiday season. To activate Live Lens, make sure you're updated to the latest version of Amazon on iOS or Android. Then find the camera icon in the search bar and tap it to launch Lens. Lastly, choose your search method: Live scan, take a photo, and upload an image. 3. Alexa+ Alexa+ is Amazon's updated take on the popular Alexa digital assistant, which can help you plan your shopping. At the moment, Alexa+, formally unveiled earlier this year, is available via early access to those with an Echo Show 8, 15, or 21. It is also compatible with the Echo Show 5, 8, 10, 15, and 21. After the early access period ends, Alexa+ will be a free Prime benefit or available to non-Prime customers for $20 per month. Also: Everything you need to know about Alexa+, Amazon's new generative AI assistant If you are an Alexa+ early access customer, you can use it to track deals on products in your wish list, cart, or save for later section. Plus, Alexa+ is smarter. It can carry fluid conversations, switch between topics, remember your questions, and perform continuously without needing "Alexa" before each request. It's like having your own personal shopper in the comfort of your home, and a great way to partially offload the mental work of holiday shopping. Alexa+ is only available via select early access, but you can sign up for notifications when Alexa+ becomes available to you. 4. Lists Santa loves a list, and so does Amazon. Lists allow you to organize and track all of your shopping, and Buy Again makes it easy to find items you've already purchased to track for repurchase. I love organizing lists for individuals I am shopping for, and I do the same for projects, events, and other tasks. An Amazon wishlist. Maria Diaz/ZDNET I recently began building a house, so Lists has become a highly used tool for sorting future purchases for areas like outdoor, kitchen, and living. To start a list, at the top right of your desktop screen, click Account & Lists > Create a list. On the mobile app, toggle to the icon that looks like a person, and click Lists at the top of the screen. 5. Payment options This is a simple feature that will save you a ton of time. Make sure to update your payment options on your Amazon account to remove expired or unused cards and add current ones. Also, confirm your shipping address and update any supplemental information. Also: 3 money-saving tricks I use every time I shop online - and you should too This makes it easy to check out quickly if you're trying to snag a deal, but it also ensures you won't second-guess payment or shipping when you're in the thick of things. Plus, with Amazon Pay accepted as an option at other retailers, you may be able to save yourself time elsewhere. You can edit your payment options on Amazon by navigating to Account > Your Payments.