What’s the Big Deal?
Think about your typical online shopping experience. You search Google, open countless tabs, read reviews on different sites, compare prices, and finally make your way to checkout. It’s exhausting, right? Perplexity wants to eliminate all that friction.
Starting November 25, 2025, U.S. users can now shop directly through Perplexity’s AI assistant using a feature called “Instant Buy”. Instead of clicking through multiple websites, you simply ask Perplexity what you’re looking for in plain language, and it handles everything from product recommendations to checkout.
Instead of bouncing between websites, you simply describe what you want to Perplexity in natural language. The AI searches merchant catalogs in real-time, shows you curated product recommendations with pricing and reviews, and lets you complete your purchase with one click using PayPal or Venmo.
The feature, called “Instant Buy,” handles everything—product discovery, comparison, and checkout—all within the conversation. Your preferences are remembered, so future searches become even more personalized.
Why It Matters
This represents a shift toward “agentic commerce,” where AI agents handle the tedious parts of shopping while you focus on decisions that matter. No more endlessly scrolling through irrelevant results or comparing tabs across multiple sites.
For Black Friday shoppers, there’s an immediate incentive: first-time PayPal buyers get 50% back on purchases up to $50 through December 1st.
Merchants on Board
Major retailers already participating include Abercrombie & Fitch, Ashley Furniture, Fabletics, Adorama, and NewEgg. Merchants can join Perplexity’s free program for instant visibility, and there’s no complicated integration needed if they already use PayPal.
OpenAI launched similar AI shopping in ChatGPT around the same time. The key difference: Perplexity completes entire transactions within the chat interface, while ChatGPT primarily links you to external sites.
Available Now
The feature rolls out to all U.S. users for free—no Pro subscription required. Whether you’re on desktop, web, or the new Comet browser, you can start shopping through AI right now.
The future of online shopping isn’t about better search results—it’s about AI that actually understands what you want and makes the whole experience frictionless.
