Perplexity Rolls Out Its AI-Powered Ecommerce Experience in the US

Perplexity has unveiled its AI-driven ecommerce feature, ‘Buy with Pro,’ for its U.S. Pro users.

Previously dubbed ‘Pro Shop,’ consumers can now purchase items directly from Perplexity’s app. Perplexity is incentivizing people to shop by offering free shipping. Once a product is selected, users only need to enter their billing and shipping details to complete the transaction, with taxes estimated by Perplexity.

“We’re using AI and sometimes human agents to complete those transactions on behalf of our users,” said Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer.

ADWEEK first reported this development last month. Perplexity is taking on ecommerce behemoths like Amazon and Google Shopping, as well as platforms driving shopping experiences such as TikTok Shop. At the same time, Perplexity is building a search rival to Google and targeting a $9 billion valuation. Whole Foods Market and ad agencies including PMG and Universal McCann are testing Perplexity’s search ad product.

Shopping from AI searches

For now, Perplexity doesn’t plan to monetize its new shopping feature. Instead, the strategy is to grow the amount of search queries. The real money-making arm remains its ads business, which thrives on sponsored questions.

Perplexity told ADWEEK that it has been testing Buy with Pro for six weeks with around 1,000 users. Perplexity Pro is priced at $20 per month or $200 annually.