Microsoft is significantly expanding the shopping capabilities of its AI assistant, Copilot, across web and mobile platforms. This move aims to provide users with a more streamlined, intuitive, and efficient shopping experience, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to transform how people discover, compare, and purchase products online. The enhanced shopping features are designed to integrate seamlessly into users' daily lives, offering personalized assistance and valuable insights directly within the Copilot environment.
The Copilot Shopping feature is engineered to simplify online purchasing, making it easier to discover products, compare prices, and track deals. By using generative AI, Copilot can summarize product information from across the web, providing users with relevant results and recommendations. When users search for items online, Copilot provides curated, interactive visual cards showing relevant products. These listings include summaries, technical specifications, pros and cons, and user-generated reviews. Once a product is selected, Copilot compares prices across multiple retailers, showing users the most competitive rates. Shoppers can then proceed to checkout natively within the app, avoiding the need to switch between different e-commerce platforms.
One of the key highlights of the expansion is the introduction of price tracking capabilities. Copilot will monitor the prices of products users are interested in, alerting them to price drops and sales. Users can set a preferred purchase price using a slider interface, and the app will send a notification when the product's price matches the desired level, prompting them to finalize the purchase. These features are designed to save users time and money, ensuring they never miss out on a great deal.
Microsoft is also focused on providing impartial advice to shoppers. While Copilot may display paid advertisements, these will be clearly labeled as such. Microsoft asserts that it does not receive commissions or other compensation for product suggestions or search results, ensuring that users can trust the recommendations they receive. This commitment to transparency and objectivity is a crucial aspect of Microsoft's approach to AI-powered shopping.
The expansion of Copilot's shopping features aligns with similar initiatives by other tech giants, such as Google and OpenAI, who have also introduced AI shopping capabilities via Search and ChatGPT, respectively. Microsoft aims to differentiate Copilot by offering a comprehensive, end-to-end shopping experience, from product discovery to checkout, all within a single app.
To support this growing ecosystem, Microsoft has launched the Copilot Merchant Program, allowing third-party sellers to directly integrate their product catalogs into the Copilot platform. Retailers can submit structured listings with technical specifications, enabling more accurate search results and product recommendations. This initiative positions Copilot as a dynamic product discovery tool and a growing marketplace, promising benefits for both consumers and merchants.
Copilot is accessible across various platforms, including online at copilot.microsoft.com, on mobile devices via Android and iOS apps, on Macs with the Copilot app, and on Windows PCs. It is also integrated into the Edge browser and various social apps like GroupMe, WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram.
Microsoft offers both a free baseline experience and a paid subscription, Copilot Pro, which unlocks additional advanced capabilities. Copilot Pro subscribers enjoy preferred access to the most advanced AI models, extended usage of Copilot Voice, early access to experimental features, and faster AI image generation.
The launch of Copilot Shopping signals Microsoft's broader strategy to evolve Copilot into a multifunctional AI platform that spans search, communication, productivity, and commerce. By embedding AI deeper into everyday consumer interactions, Microsoft aims to reshape how users search for, evaluate, and purchase products across devices.
