• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 29, 2023

Google has stepped up options for consumers to purchase from retailers and brands on Search and YouTube, while Microsoft has added the ability to make purchases from Bing and Edge, the company said in separate announcements.

Microsoft announced Thursday shopping tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in Bing and Bing Chat. Price match monitors, AI-generated buying guides, and review summaries are featured.

Brands and retailers will need to keep up on competitive pricing. The price match monitors show consumers a product’s price after purchased. The thinking behind this feature benefits consumers wanting to save money and request a price match from the store or brands.

“Our goal is to bring more joy to shopping — from the initial spark of inspiration to the exciting unboxing experience — by making the process easier and giving you confidence, you’re getting the right item at the right price,” Microsoft wrote in a post.

The company said Microsoft Shopping has already helps consumers save time and money with tools across Bing, Edge, Microsoft Start, and Outlook. In fact, Microsoft Edge has offered $3.7 billion in savings to shoppers worldwide in the last year from built-in shopping features like Coupons, Cashback, Price History, and Price Comparison.

U.S. shoppers, per Microsoft, can save an average of $400 per year with Microsoft Edge. 

Microsoft partnered with top U.S. retailer with price match policies and will add more in time to bring these features to life. Price Match will roll out soon in the U.S. Price History, Price Comparison, Coupons, Cashback, and Package Tracking are already available in select markets and built-in to Edge.

And while Microsoft is launching these shopping tools on Bing and Edge, Google will shutter its Buy on Google program September 26 to pilot a new checkout experience on Google Search.

Google, in a post, explains it will remove the multistep process of making a purchase. Consumers ready to buy will have the option to go directly from Google to the checkout on the retailer’s or brand’s website. Once there, they will see the chosen product in the shopping cart and can checkout on the site with multiple payment options.

Google pilot this experience on Google with select merchants and will share more information when ready to take on additional partners.