Searching for an item on the internet isn’t what it used to be, mostly because we’re all ditching typing fragments and scrolling endlessly, thanks to AI. Nowadays, a shopper can simply ask for “the best fall jacket under $150” or a “cozy but modern sofa” and get precisely what they mean.
From the AI tweaks made by Google to AI tools like Amazon’s Lens Live are in many ways reshaping the convenience of search and shopping online and making this shift possible. Amazon recently dropped Lens Live—a visual search tool that lets you point your camera at stuff and instantly get product matches plus commentary from Rufus, its AI shopping assistant.
AI tools like Amazon Lens and Google Shopping, among others, act as personal shoppers, weaving together context, preferences, and recommendations in natural conversation, transforming search from a chore to a chat that coughs up what you’re looking for on the first try.
“The journey for search has always been to really ensure that the consumer is getting what they need based on their queries,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, told Retail Brew. “What we’re now seeing is an evolution of the search happening almost at a prompt level. Where the prompt—it’s really taking in much more context, almost than even the searches.”
“A search is just a product or some item that you’re looking for. Maybe that’s the traditional path we’ve thought about in terms of a search query, but when we think about a Gen AI prompt, it’s filled with a lot more context,” Pandya added.
And companies like Google and Amazon are both steering directly into this frame of shopping by adapting their search and shopping experiences and embedding AI tools they’ve built in-house. Google, for instance, has upgraded its shopping experience with new AI features including a virtual try-on tool, agentic checkout, and AI-powered product discovery within AI Mode. It has also introduced its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which uses generative AI to provide more conversational and context-rich responses to shopping queries.
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Meanwhile, Amazon’s recent AI upgrades include a suite of new tools like Lens Live for real-time visual search, personalized AI Shopping Guides, and its interactive Rufus AI assistant.
Another marker that AI is truly transforming the consumer journey is traffic from AI platforms has seen a big upswing recently. Per Adobe data, traffic from generative AI-powered links to retail websites has surged up 4,700% in July.
“Consumers are much more comfortable giving [Generative AI] a lot more information to give background on what consumers need,” Pandya said. “And so then we get these very sophisticated, advanced responses from the Gen AI platform. That is where we see Gen AI really setting a new bar in terms of whatever journey the consumer is on to get the goods they need.”
“So in a way, search has to evolve to meet that new world we’re in, and how it can rationalize the traditional experience that it’s provided consumers with what they’ve come to expect based on Gen AI prompts, and that the responses it’s getting there,” Pandya added.
From a brand’s perspective executives are cautiously optimistic and measured about the evolution of product search with AI. Dibs Beauty CEO Jeff Lee told Retail Brew in July that there is still no clear winner when it comes to search, not even Google: “We haven’t found a true winner yet, and I think it’ll be some time before we find that one great solution that replaces all search for customers discovering brands.”
Looks like the prompt for this year is: big year of change for online shopping.