Athira Sethu
Kochi, 19 November 2024
Perplexity, a rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) search company, has launched new shopping features in a bid to attract more users and compete with Google’s stronghold on the market. Among those supporting this venture is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Perplexity looks to provide a new approach to online shopping.
New tools include product cards, which provide detailed and visually appealing information about items. Customers can see relevant products in reply to shopping-related questions. Such an offering is powered by integrations like Shopify, intended to help up-to-date information from global businesses shipping to the U.S.
A great feature one can enjoy about this is the “Snap to Shop” tool. It is a feature that captures a photo of any item, which can then be found online on other shops. This makes it easier for someone searching for a specific product by visual input.
Currently, shopping features are available only in the U.S., though Perplexity plans to roll out into other countries, though no particular timeline has been announced. The company is also launching a “Merchant Program,” in which retailers can share product details directly with Perplexity, further enriching its database.
This move by Perplexity comes when many e-commerce platforms are adopting tools based on AI to attract more merchants and improve experience for users. On this basis, focusing on shopping is to make the company stand out in the very competitive AI-driven search market.
It is also raising new funds, which would place the current value of this company at $9 billion. Thus, there is a significant confidence from investors into growing and innovating capabilities in the industry.
Perplexity faces tough competition, particularly from OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, which has newly offered advanced search functionalities. Those innovations put Perplexity in a competitive pursuit to enhance its status as a key AI-driven search and e-commerce developer.
