Perplexity’s New AI Shopping Rollout Features Built-In PayPal Checkout

Perplexity has launched a new AI-powered shopping experience for U.S. users, positioning conversational search as the next evolution of online retail. The rollout reframes how shoppers browse, compare, and buy by replacing keyword-based search with intent-driven dialogue and by integrating PayPal for seamless checkout within the same window.

The experience is available on desktop and mobile web, with iOS and Android releases planned in the coming weeks.

From Search Bars to Intent Understanding

Online shopping has long been optimised for faster transactions, not discovery. Traditional search tools work when the user knows exactly what they want but fall short when the goal is to explore, whether that’s finding a winter jacket suited for a San Francisco ferry commute or selecting gifts for a small kitchen.

Perplexity is attempting to close this gap by introducing AI that tracks user intent, remembers preferences, and maintains context across a series of follow-up questions.

Instead of ranking products based on advertiser priorities, the system adapts to each shopper’s style, past searches, and ongoing needs. Queries like “What about boots?” continue from the earlier context, reducing the need to restart searches and sift through generic lists.

Checkout Without Disruption: Powered by PayPal

A key differentiator is the company’s integration with PayPal, allowing users to complete purchases directly inside the conversational flow. Retailers that rely on PayPal for transaction security and processing remain the merchant of record, preserving customer visibility, returns management, and loyalty-building.

This design addresses one of e-commerce’s biggest friction points: cart abandonment between product selection and payment.

Once checkout is completed, shoppers return to the same thread and continue browsing, whether they’re finishing a packing list or comparing alternatives.

Product Cards Over Endless Grids

Perplexity shifts from the traditional scroll-heavy UI to structured product cards tailored to the user’s query. These cards highlight essential details, specifications, contextual fit, and reviews, helping shoppers make decisions faster without digging through extensive catalogues.

For shoppers looking for a couch, desk lamp, running shoes, or throw pillows, the tool surfaces reasons to buy or skip, based on what matters to them rather than what performs well in affiliate-driven rankings.

While the shopping assistant focuses on user intent, the company emphasises that merchants remain central to the transaction. Through PayPal’s merchant-first architecture, retailers retain full ownership of customer relationships, including post-purchase communication and returns.

The expectation is that high-intent shoppers who have already interacted with an AI-driven discovery flow will convert at higher rates compared to traditional search-driven traffic.

Perplexity’s launch hints at a broader shift: consumer experiences where AI acts less as a recommender system and more as a personalised shopping partner. For users, this translates to less searching and more discovering. For merchants, it promises better-aligned customers and fewer abandoned carts.

The company is positioning this rollout as an early look at what e-commerce could look like when discovery and purchasing happen in the same, uninterrupted conversation.