Meta is quietly testing a new AI-powered shopping feature, putting itself in a direct competition with ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which are already working on supercharging shopping experience with AI and change the way millions of people discover as well as buy products online.
What is Meta testing
The social media giant is rolling out a shopping research tool within its Meta AI web browser chatbot to select US-based users. When a user asks for product suggestions – for example, running shoes or a winter jacket – the chatbot responds with a visual carousel of product images, complete with brand names, website links and prices.
Alongside the product cards, Meta AI offers a brief written explanation of why it is recommending each item, presented in bullet-point form, a report by Bloomberg said.
However, there is no built-in checkout or payment option yet but users can click through to the merchant’s website to browse and buy. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to the publication that the feature is being tested.
How Meta’s shopping tool is different
What sets Meta’s shopping tool apart from rivals is how personal it is because Meta has years of data on its users from Facebook and Instagram activity to location information, which means its recommendations are tailored from the start.
During an earnings call in January, Zuckerberg said Meta would begin shipping products capable of delivering a “uniquely personal experience” based on users’ history, interests, content, and relationships — describing it as a step toward building what he called “personal superintelligence.”
The shopping tool is also widely seen as a potential new revenue stream for Meta, which has relied heavily on advertising across Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg suggested that while Meta’s new “agentic shopping tools” would help users find highly specific products from businesses already in Meta’s catalog.
Meta is not the first to explore AI-powered shopping. Both OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini have already begun incorporating e-commerce features into their chatbots. Moreover, Perplexity also tested AI-ppowered Comet browser that acts as a personal assistant that can automate tasks, research the web, organise users’ email.
