Perplexity Introduces An In-App Shopping Feature Called “Perplexity Shopping”

Perplexity AI has introduced a new feature called “Shop with Perplexity," and it’s taking direct aim at Amazon. Users can now search for and purchase products without ever leaving the Perplexity app. It even includes perks like one-click checkout and zero shipping fees for Pro users.

This new shopping experience is powered by integrations with platforms like Shopify.

According to MediaFx’s general stats about Shopify,

• There are over 4 million live e-commerce websites built and powered with Shopify.
• On average, Shopify has 2.1 million active users per day.
• There are nearly 50,000 Shopify Plus stores currently live on the platform.
• Shopify has nearly 11 percent of the total e-commerce market share.
• Shopify had a total of 675 million buyers in 2023.

Looking at these numbers, giants like Amazon and Alibaba must be feeling the pressure. This feature isn’t just a new addition—it's a direct challenge to their dominance in the e-commerce market.

The feature is already live. For instance, if you search for “over-ear headphones that are comfortable and don’t squeeze your ears,” Perplexity doesn’t just tell you what to look for—it provides actual product recommendations.

You’ll see a new “shopwithperplexity” label at the top left of the dashboard. That’s how you know the feature is active.

There’s also an expanded view that lets you see all recommended products matching your search query.

This looks really good. Note that Shop with Perplexity is available even to non-premium users.

Now let’s take a closer look at details of this new feature.

What’s new in Shop with Perplexity?

The new shopping feature has three main features:

1. One-click to buy
2. Snap to shop
3. Discover the best product

One-click to Buy

This is a pro-only feature for users in the US. It’s called “Buy with Pro," and it’s as simple as it sounds—you can buy products with just one click.

If it’s not available in your country, you’ll be redirected to the merchant’s website to complete your purchase.

According to the company, “Buy with Pro” is a first-of-its kind AI commerce experience, which lets you transact natively right on our web or mobile app for select products and merchants.

Just save your shipping and billing information through our secure portal and select “Buy with Pro” to place your order. We’ll take care of the rest. — Perplexity

Additionally, users who purchase with Buy with Pro get free shipping on all orders as a thank-you for shopping with Perplexity.

One-click shopping isn’t new, but doing it seamlessly within an app powered by AI? That’s fresh.

Snap to Shop

Similar to how Google Lens works, this is a visual search tool that shows you relevant products when you take a photo of an item.

You can easily find what you’re looking for, even if you don’t have a product description or name.

Click on the little lens icon on the left side of the prompt field, and it will open up the camera app.

Take note that this feature is only accessible to Pro users.

Discover the Best Product

When users ask Perplexity a shopping question, they’ll receive the precise and objective answers they expect. Alongside these answers, easy-to-read product cards display the most relevant items, complete with key details in a simple, visual format.

These cards are not sponsored—they're unbiased recommendations curated by the AI.

This is probably my favorite feature. Perplexity shows you a summary highlighting positive and negative attributes of the product.

When you click on the “View More” button, a right sidebar will display more information about the product like what people are saying about it and a summary of its key features.

If you’ve ever slogged through Amazon’s review section, you’ll know how overwhelming it can be.

As a buyer, the summary of what people are saying about the product is very helpful, especially at times where the reviews are mixed.

This new discovery experience is powered by platform integrations, including Shopify, which gives access to the most recent and relevant information on products across Shopify-powered businesses globally that sell and ship to the US.

Perplexity says that the summary is unbiased, but I highly doubt that.

Of course, AI can only do so much. It’s still pulling from existing reviews, which might include fake or bot-generated ones.

Perplexity Merchant Program

If you own an online store, you can apply for Perplexity’s Merchant Program for free so the platform can access live details of your products and show them to the search results.

Here are the benefits of joining the Merchant Program:

• Products have an increased chance of being labeled as “recommended” since they are included in Perplexity’s index.
• Merchants benefit from payment integrations that allow their products to be included in Perplexity’s one-click Buy with Pro checkout experience.
• Free API access is available, enabling merchants to create their own Perplexity-powered search experiences, with options to refine the index to display only their products.
• A custom dashboard provides merchants with insights into search and shopping trends, highlighting how their products are surfaced.

Final Thoughts

From what I’ve seen online, reactions to “Shop with Perplexity” have been mixed so far. Some users love it, some expect it to cause enshittification.

For me, I wasn’t too surprised by this launch—it had been rumored for months. What’s more interesting is how this Shopify integration could change the online shopping experience with AI-driven recommendations.

For now, this opens up opportunities for small business owners to get more visibility online, and the one-click to buy feature offers a great convenience for a lot of online shoppers.

Monetizing this feature is already in the plans for sure, but for now, Perplexity does not charge commissions on sales made through its platform at this time, differentiating itself from competitors like Amazon and Google Shopping.

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