Walmart, Amazon, and Google upgrade their AI shopping assistant features, bringing strong performance for the year-end shopping season.

The year-end shopping season has officially begun, and large retail chains and technology companies are launching brand new or upgraded AI shopping tools, hoping to increase online shopping performance through a smoother and more personalized interactive experience. Tools launched this year by companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Google have far surpassed the simple Bots of the past. The new AI shopping agents not only provide users with tailored product recommendations but also can track prices, compare information, and even complete orders in a manner that closely resembles real conversations.

Behind this wave of upgrades is the rapid development of generative AI. Platforms such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini have recently upgraded their artificial intelligence, enabling e-commerce and businesses to build new services on top of it. The AI assistant feature launched by Google this month allows users to instruct the system to automatically call local businesses to inquire about inventory, which is regarded as one of the most talked-about innovations of the year.

According to a forecast by the San Francisco software company Salesforce, during the shopping peak season from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, AI is expected to drive approximately $73 billion in consumer spending globally, accounting for 22% of total holiday sales, a significant increase from last year's $60 billion. These AI influences include querying products through ChatGPT and using AI recommendation tools provided by retail websites.

However, Brad Jashinsky, a senior analyst at the information technology research firm Gartner, pointed out that despite rapid technological advancements, the actual impact of AI during this holiday season remains limited. This is due to the low adoption rate of the tools, coupled with some consumers still taking a wait-and-see approach towards new technologies. He emphasized that once retailers widely adopt these tools and improve their functionalities over time, consumer behavior may gradually change.

AI bypasses the search bar to become the new shopping entry point

AI can quickly understand needs and provide tailored suggestions, which is currently the most obvious application direction. OpenAI has added a shopping research mode to ChatGPT, analyzing multiple sources such as product pages, reviews, prices, and users' past conversation records to provide a complete purchasing guide, particularly suitable for information-heavy electronic products or beauty products.

Google has upgraded its AI mode search tool to answer detailed questions written in natural language. For example, a user can tell customer service that they want to buy a casual sweater that can be paired with a skirt or jeans in January in New York, and the system will extract relevant information from Google’s list of 50 billion products. The tool can also generate charts and compare prices, features, evaluations, and other factors. Previously, shoppers had to use keywords, filters, and product links to find the information they needed.

Amazon's AI assistant Rufus has also been upgraded to remember users' past input information, such as their children's interests at home, and provide more personalized product recommendations. Google has strengthened its AI-powered search tool, which can answer complex questions posed in natural language and extract information from over 50 billion products, even automatically generating comparison charts, saving users from the tedious manual filtering process.

Walmart's AI assistant Sparky and Target's holiday gift recommendation tool have also incorporated more detailed parameters such as context, age, and preferences, allowing consumers to move away from traditional keyword searches.

New Generation Price Tracking and Alert Function

Price tracking tools are not a new phenomenon, but this year major platforms have launched more precise and proactive versions that allow consumers to keep track of price changes in more detail. Amazon's latest 90-day price history feature covers almost all products on its site and offers customizable price alerts. Google has also introduced a more advanced AI price tracking tool that allows users to set tracking conditions based on different sizes, colors, and other details; Microsoft Copilot has also added similar features. Industry analysts believe that these new tools will force retailers to adopt more competitive pricing during holiday seasons, as more consumers become more sensitive and budget-conscious after being exposed to such alert features for the first time.

A brand new shopping process: The era of AI Bots placing orders has arrived.

This year's most groundbreaking development is that AI no longer just provides suggestions but can truly assist in completing purchases. The instant checkout feature launched by OpenAI allows users to buy products from multiple merchants directly within ChatGPT, without needing to navigate to different websites. The partnership between Walmart and OpenAI also enables ChatGPT members to purchase most of Walmart's products directly. Another collaboration between Target and OpenAI supports adding multiple items to the shopping cart, then redirecting to the Target app for checkout.

Amazon has also added higher-level automation features for Rufus: when users set price alerts and enable “automatic purchase,” once the price drops to the set range, Rufus will automatically place the order and then notify users for confirmation. If Amazon does not have the required product, Rufus can also guide users to other retailers.

Google's AI price tracker has added a “Buy for me” option, which can automatically place orders using Google Pay when the price is right, and has partnered with multiple e-commerce platforms. Additionally, Google has launched an AI auto-dialing tool that can call local businesses to inquire about prices or inventory, and it actively informs the recipient that the caller is AI to avoid confusion.

This article discusses how Walmart, Amazon, and Google are upgrading their AI shopping assistant features, bringing strong performance for the year-end shopping season. Originally appeared in Chain News ABMedia.