This holiday season, while millions of Americans are opening laptops to shop for gifts, tech companies are working to shift the online shopping experience into the hands of AI agents.
Perplexity, a leading AI startup, has launched an AI shopping agent for its U.S. subscribers. This tool streamlines the shopping process by navigating retail websites, finding desired products, and even completing purchases on behalf of users. Although Perplexity is the first to come into this space, other companies like OpenAI and Google are reportedly developing similar AI-powered tools for tasks such as booking travel and completing online transactions. Retail icon Amazon is also expected to enhance its AI chatbot, Rufus, to support shopping and checkout.
To bypass retailer-imposed bot restrictions, tech companies are blending innovative and traditional methods. Rabbit’s LAM Playground enables AI agents to browse websites using data center computers, while Anthropic’s agent operates directly from a user’s personal computer.
In recent times, Perplexity has partnered with Stripe to enhance transaction security by using single-use debit cards through the Stripe Issuing (SI) feature, as reported by TechMarge. This ensures AI agents can make limited purchases—like a pair of socks—without risking full access to users’ bank accounts. In contrast, Google’s agent reportedly requires credit card details, which may raise privacy concerns. However, companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Shopify, which already handle billing information, could optimize the shopping process, leveraging their existing infrastructure.
These AI tools have the potential to revamp e-commerce by uncovering hard-to-find products and deals, saving time, and simplifying tasks such as booking affordable flights or finding the perfect gift. However, this disruption might unsettle retailers and advertisers reliant on traditional shopping behaviors.
While AI agents are not yet ready to handle your entire holiday wishlist, the growing interest from tech companies signals a future where shopping becomes even more seamless and efficient.
