Google has begun testing a shopping experience that allows some users in India to buy selected products from Flipkart directly through Gemini and AI Mode, moving its artificial intelligence-powered services from discovering and recommending products to actively participating in completing the transaction.
Some users see a Buy button next to Flipkart product listings within the Gemini and AI Mode interfaces. When pressed, the user is taken to a checkout flow bearing Flipkart branding without leaving Google’s artificial intelligence interface.
Limited test ahead of the shopping season
The current test involves a limited group of users and a small number of products, including smartphones, electronics, and phone accessories. By contrast, other users still see traditional Flipkart listings within Google’s services without a direct purchase option.
According to information obtained by TechCrunch, Google plans to expand the experience on a larger scale later in October, ahead of India’s festive shopping season, a period that typically sees strong competition among e-commerce platforms and major offers from companies.
What is changing in practice?
The experience is not limited to displaying product links; it adds a direct transition from an artificial intelligence recommendation to the purchasing process. However, the observed test does not appear to use the Google-hosted checkout experience that the company previously showcased. When the buy button is selected, a Flipkart checkout flow appears, while the technology managing this integration remains undisclosed.
Earlier this year, Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP, as an open standard intended to enable artificial intelligence agents to interact with merchants throughout the shopping process, including checkout. It also expanded the protocol to allow products to be transferred to the merchant’s website to complete the purchase. However, the source does not establish that the Flipkart test relies on UCP.
Competition among platforms and integration not available to everyone
A Google spokesperson said the company is continually testing new features and experiences to help users discover and connect with businesses, without providing additional details. Google had previously said in early September that Flipkart was among the merchants participating in shopping experiments it describes as “agentic” in India.
In the experiment observed by TechCrunch, products from competitors such as Amazon appeared alongside Flipkart products, but the competitors’ listings did not include a direct purchase option within Google’s interface. This means the feature currently does not work uniformly with all merchants whose products appear in Google’s services.
Google also has a financial relationship with Flipkart; it invested about $350 million in the company in 2024 as part of a round led by Walmart, obtaining a minority stake. Flipkart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why does this matter?
The test represents a broader trend among artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, to integrate commerce into intelligent assistants rather than merely answering shopping-related questions. In practical terms, however, the scope of the test remains narrow, and the material contains no information about additional fees, return policies, or availability outside India. Its reliance on a Flipkart-branded checkout flow also leaves open questions about Google’s technical role in the transaction and how the model could be expanded to include other merchants.