Google teams up with Walmart and other retailers to enable shopping within Gemini AI chatbot
Google teams up with Walmart and other retailers to enable shopping within Gemini AI chatbot
Publish Date: 2026-01-11 12:37:00
Source Domain: www.smdp.com
- Google is enhancing its AI chatbot, Gemini, by adding shopping features in partnership with major retailers like Walmart, Shopify, and Wayfair, turning it into a virtual assistant and merchant.
- An instant checkout function will enable customers to purchase items from selected businesses and a range of payment providers without exiting the Gemini chat interface.
- The announcement was made at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York, emphasizing the role of AI in e-commerce and its impact on consumer behavior.
- According to John Furner and Sundar Pichai, this evolution marks the transition from traditional search to agent-led commerce in retail.
- Gemini will provide product recommendations and, for Walmart users, seamlessly integrate purchases into existing online shopping carts.
- Google, along with its competitors like OpenAI and Amazon, is focusing on seamless AI-powered shopping within a single chatbot platform.
- AI-influenced global retail sales were estimated at $272 billion, or 20%, during the recent holiday season, according to Salesforce.
- The new AI shopping features in Gemini will initially be available to U.S. users, with a plan to expand internationally in the future.
