YOUR AI SHOPPING BOT WILL SEE YOU NOW!
Hot startup Perplexity.AI takes on Amazon and Google. Provides curated shopping, in-app purchasing and free shipping for Pro users.
Perplexity
Hot (and somewhat embattled) AI search engine startup Perplexity is entering a crowded field: e-commerce.
Last month, Perplexity debuted AI-assisted shopping for its paid users that will include purchase suggestions (currently ‘unbiased’, as not sponsored) and in-app buying, allowing users to bypass the retailers’ websites for purposes of purchasing. With this move, Perplexity will be taking on behemoths, such as Google and Amazon.
The UI will look similar to the following example - for shopping related searches, the user will be provided with a set of visual cards related to their query.
In addition, product pros and cons will be included, as well as a purchase option, and the user can drill down for more details by tapping on the tile; credit card information can be stored for quick and easy checkout in-app.
One-click shopping will be provided and pro users will get free shipping.
The engine will support both text and image queries (a la Google). There will be integrations with sellers’ sites, including those on Shopify. A merchant program is being launched in tandem with the shopper tools.
Google and Amazon
Recently, Amazon and Google have introduced more AI processes into the shopping paradigm.
In October, Google dropped a few new features into the mix.
Now, in a Google Shopping search for “best lightweight jacket for winter in Seattle”, an AI brief will pull up with “top things to consider for your search, plus products that meet your needs.”
Additionally, a virtual try-on-type feature is now made available, allowing you to choose a model wearing said product, that may look similar to your stature, so you can get a sense for the overall aesthetic.
Amazon, too, has dropped a new AI shopping model - Rufus. Currently in beta. Rufus in comparison to Google seems a little less rich, although I would expect additional functionality will be built out over time.
In a search in Rufus for a “great winter coat for Seattle”, I got the following couple of recommendations, with no options for any sort of virtual try-on like Google, and no associated AI brief.
The results aren’t particularly instantaneous and don’t seem super accurate, as of yet; as an example, my second search in Rufus was for “top professional watercolor paints”, and one of the options that came up was student and not artist-grade.
More to come in this exciting new space.