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Perplexity is set to debut its free, agentic shopping product next week for U.S. consumers, capitalizing on the anticipated surge in holiday spending. This move positions the AI-powered search engine as a more direct competitor to e-commerce giants and other AI platforms venturing into the transactional space.
“The ‘agentic’ aspect resides in the frictionless purchase experience directly from the search result,” Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Business Officer at Perplexity, explained. “Consumers primarily seek to conduct their own research but desire a streamlined and simplified journey. This launch is designed to provide precisely that.”
The AI startup has strategically partnered with PayPal in anticipation of the launch, initially granting users access to over 5,000 merchants directly through Perplexity’s interface. The core innovation stems from Perplexity’s ability to understand user intent with greater precision, utilizing past search behaviors to deliver increasingly personalized results. This personalized approach aims to reduce consumer friction and potential cart abandonment.
Previously, Perplexity introduced “Buy With Pro” for its paid subscriber base. The new offering expands this functionality to a broader audience, aligning with the growing trend of integrating e-commerce directly into search and AI platforms.
While Perplexity has remained silent on the potential revenue streams generated from transactions facilitated through its platform, industry analysts speculate a commission-based model or data-driven insights could be in play. The e-commerce sector is increasingly scrutinizing the monetization strategies of AI-powered platforms as they evolve into transaction facilitators.
The move directly challenges OpenAI’s foray into e-commerce with “Instant Checkout” for ChatGPT. While OpenAI has indicated a fee structure for transactions, the competition highlights a broader shift in the digital landscape, where AI is rapidly becoming a critical component of the consumer purchase journey. OpenAI partnered with Etsy and Shopify for Instant Checkout, and also inked deal with PayPal.
Michelle Gill, who leads PayPal’s Agentic Strategy, emphasized the importance of building robust infrastructure and security to support the burgeoning “next era of commerce,” facilitated by AI.
PayPal merchants will serve as the merchants of record, handling core functions such as order fulfillment, customer service, and returns. The new platform will utilize PayPal’s buyer protection policies.
From a technological standpoint, Perplexity’s agentic shopping feature leverages sophisticated natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to interpret user queries and personalize product recommendations. The success of this feature depends heavily on the accuracy of these algorithms and their ability to sift through vast amounts of product data to match user needs effectively. The company needs to continue innovating, so it can avoid obsolescence.
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