Marina Lyubimova
⬤ Perplexity's rolling out a brand new free shopping feature for U.S. users. The company teamed up with PayPal to build a complete search, discovery, and checkout system right inside Perplexity's interface. The rollout kicks off next week, perfectly timed for the holiday shopping rush.
⬤ Here's what makes this interesting: Perplexity used to have a paid tool called "Buy With Pro," and now they're giving similar functionality to everyone for free. With PayPal baked in, users can browse products and complete purchases through one smooth AI-powered experience without bouncing around different sites. It's all happening in one place, which saves a ton of time compared to usual online shopping.
⬤ The partnership with PayPal is smart because they're tapping into one of the biggest digital payment systems out there. This fits into a bigger trend where AI agents handle multiple consumer tasks on their own, cutting down friction in online shopping. By putting checkout capabilities into their conversational interface, Perplexity's competing in the growing market for AI-powered shopping tools.
The new tool enables customers to search, shop, and check out directly within Perplexity starting next week.
⬤ Why this matters: AI platforms are breaking out of just answering questions and moving into actually completing transactions. Putting search, comparison, and checkout in one environment could seriously change how people shop online and how companies approach sales strategies. Teaming up with PayPal shows they're anchoring AI shopping within trusted payment networks, which could help regular folks feel comfortable trying it out during the busiest shopping season.
Marina Lyubimova
