Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout Will Let Users Search, Purchase Products Without Leaving the Chat Window

Microsoft, on Thursday, introduced Copilot Checkout, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered shopping experience for its chatbot that allows users to make purchases right from the chat window. With this release, the Redmond-based tech giant has joined OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity in the rising trend of AI shopping tools. While the tech giant is a late entrant in this space, it has already forged partnerships with Shopify, PayPal, and Stripe for the capability. Notably, in November, the company released shopping features for Copilot in the Edge browser.

Microsoft Releases Copilot Checkout

In a blog post, the tech giant announced and detailed the new AI shopping experience for Copilot. It is currently available in the US on the chatbot's website, with broader rollout across more regions and interfaces expected soon. Microsoft has also opened an application form for merchants who wish to onboard the experience via PayPal or Stripe. For now, eligible users can look up and purchase products listed on Shopify via Copilot.

The company pitches the new capability as a “conversation to conversion” tool, claiming that “journeys that include Copilot led to 53 percent more purchases within 30 minutes of interaction compared to those without,” and “when shopping intent is present, journeys with Copilot are 194 percent more likely to result in a purchase.”

For the end user, the experience is straightforward. They can go to Copilot's web client and write a prompt about a product they have in mind or want recommendations for. Once the chatbot suggests products (currently only those listed on Shopify), users will see an option to buy. Tapping the option will open a new pop-up window to make the payment and complete the purchase. After that, they will receive the details of the order, delivery details, and a link to track the delivery.

Interestingly, Microsoft claims that despite enabling the shopping experience on its interface, the company will not take charge of the transaction, the customer data, or the post-purchasing relationship of the merchant. It will hand over the relevant data at the time of the transaction. This was likely done to avoid a situation like Perplexity, which was handed a cease-and-desist letter by Amazon for degrading customer experience and eroding trust.