When AI Is Your Shopping Wingman

by · Inc42

SUMMARY

  • AI shopping assistants are reshaping product discovery, boosting conversions and creating a new battle for visibility as brands and marketplaces adapt to agentic commerce
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The familiar ritual of seeking a friend’s opinion and scrolling through endless product listings before making an online purchase is beginning to change. With AI transforming almost everything today, shopping has become the next major use case. AI shopping assistants are moving from novelty features to measurable behaviour across the country’s ecommerce spectrum.

This means AI has not only become the first point of contact for many users during product discovery but is also helping them make an informed bet before making a purchase.

Propelling this change are Amazon’s Rufus, Myntra’s Maya, Meesho’s Vaani and Flipkart’s Flippi, to name a few, which are capable of handholding consumers throughout the purchase cycle — from discovery to checkout. 

As per a report, 41% of Indian consumers are already using AI-powered shopping tools, with another 40% expected to adopt them soon. 

“From a consumer standpoint, the future is very clear. ChatGPT today handles about 2 Bn queries, of which nearly 50 Mn are commerce-related,” AI-powered shopping assistant Flash AI’s founder Ranjith Boyanapalli told Inc42. 

He added that consumers leverage AI to conduct three kinds of shopping-related searches: for product discovery and recommendations; product usage and suitability queries; price comparison and value assessment. 

While research remains the most common use case for AI among consumers, its ability to drive conversions is now drawing significant industry attention.