Perplexity added two new features to its platform on Monday to offer users a new shopping experience. The artificial intelligence (AI) search engine is rolling out ‘Buy with Pro’ and ‘Snap to Shop’ features for paying subscribers. With the former, Perplexity Pro users can now purchase products directly on the platform after asking for recommendations. The latter is similar to Google Lens and allows users to capture an image of a product and share it with the AI search engine to find a match.
In a blog post, the AI firm detailed the two new features. Both of these AI commerce features are currently available to Perplexity Pro users in the US. Buy with Pro will allow users to run a query about a specific product or product recommendations for a particular scenario. When the results show, users will also see a curated list of recommended products that they can purchase with a single click.
Perplexity’s Buy with Pro interface
Photo Credit: Perplexity
Users will first have to add shipping and billing information on Perplexity’s portal. Once that is done, they can click on the Buy with Pro button next to the products to directly make a purchase without having to leave the app. The company is also offering free shipping on all orders made on the platform. In case Buy with Pro is not available for a product, the AI firm says it will redirect the user to the merchant’s website.
Alongside this, the company is also introducing a Snap to Shop feature. Just like Google Lens, users can use this feature to point their smartphone’s camera at a product and run a search on it. The AI will either find the exact match or similar products, which can then be purchased using the Buy with Pro button. Perplexity says this feature is aimed at times when one does not know the name of the product or can think of its description.
On the retailer side, the AI firm has started the Perplexity Merchant Programme which allows retailers to share product specifications and similar data with the AI firm without paying anything. The company is also offering payment integrations and free application programming interface (API) access to let them create a seamless experience for buyers.
Recently, AI commerce has emerged as a new online shopping experience for buyers. With this, the AI streamlines and automates processes such as product discovery, customer support, setting dynamic pricing, AI assistants to answer product queries and more. Amazon’s Rufus AI, Shopify Magic, and Salesforce’s Einstein AI are some examples of tools enabling AI commerce.
