In a significant push to reshape online commerce, Microsoft has unveiled a suite of new artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed to let users shop and pay for products without ever leaving its Copilot chatbot. This move aims to streamline the digital shopping experience by keeping the entire process, from discovery to payment, within a single conversation window.
Copilot Checkout: The End of Redirects for Shoppers
The flagship feature, named Copilot Checkout, is now live for users in the United States. It functions through strategic partnerships with major payment and commerce platforms, including PayPal, Shopify, and Stripe. This integration means that online shoppers can now ask the AI for product recommendations, compare different options, and complete their purchase—all within the Copilot chat interface, eliminating the need to be redirected to external merchant websites.
Early retail partners adopting this new checkout experience include prominent names like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Furniture, and numerous independent sellers from Etsy. In this arrangement, the merchants will continue to be the primary custodians of the transaction and customer data, while Microsoft provides the intelligent AI layer that facilitates the purchase journey.
Empowering Merchants with Brand-Specific AI Agents
Beyond the consumer-facing checkout tool, Microsoft is also rolling out powerful AI solutions for online sellers. One key release is the Brand Agents AI tool for Shopify merchants. This feature allows sellers to embed AI assistants directly on their own e-commerce websites. These agents are trained specifically on the merchant's product catalogue and can interact with customers, answer queries, and offer guidance while mimicking the brand's unique tone and voice.
Shopify merchants will be automatically enrolled in the new Copilot Checkout experience, though they retain the option to opt out if they choose.
Automating Retail Operations with Copilot Studio
Microsoft is further expanding its retail AI arsenal with new templates in Copilot Studio, currently available in public preview. The first is a catalogue enrichment agent template. This tool is designed to automate and manage critical back-end catalogue tasks such as new product onboarding, categorisation, and error correction. It can even extract product details from images and incorporate social insights. The ultimate goal is to transform raw product data into well-organised information that can power platform-specific discovery, recommendations, and personalised shopping experiences.
The second template is a store operations agent, also in public preview. Aimed at store managers and staff, it provides a natural language interface to check real-time inventory levels and review store policies. The system goes further by managing workflows, identifying potential operational issues, and suggesting corrective actions. It analyses a blend of data—including sales figures, foot traffic, weather forecasts, local events, and holidays—to generate intelligent recommendations for staffing, performance metrics, and daily operational tasks.
Together, these AI solutions promise to automate a wide range of retail processes, from inventory management to merchandising insights. Microsoft states that the tools are built to free retail teams from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on broader strategy, and can be integrated seamlessly into a business's existing systems.
