Google has begun piloting a feature in India that allows users to purchase products from Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce platform, directly within its Gemini assistant and AI Mode search experience. The development marks a significant step in the company's effort to transform its AI tools from product discovery engines into active participants in the online shopping process.

During the test, certain users are encountering a "Buy" button on select Flipkart product listings that appear inside Gemini and Google's AI Mode interface. Tapping that button redirects users to a Flipkart checkout flow without requiring them to exit the AI environment. The experience has been confirmed by individuals with direct knowledge of the trial, as well as through firsthand observation of the feature in action.

The pilot is currently limited in scope, covering only a subset of users and a narrow range of product categories. Items available through the Buy button so far include smartphones, consumer electronics, and mobile accessories. Other users browsing the same AI interfaces continue to see standard Flipkart product listings, but without any option to initiate a purchase directly from within the AI experience.

According to one person familiar with the plans, Google intends to expand the feature to a wider audience later in October, timing the broader rollout to coincide with India's festive shopping season - one of the busiest and most competitive periods in the country's retail calendar.

AI Commerce Ambitions Intensify Across the Industry

This development fits into a broader industry trend in which major AI companies are working to integrate transactional capabilities into their platforms. Google and competitors such as OpenAI have been moving beyond the role of answering product-related queries and surfacing recommendations, aiming instead to play a more direct role in facilitating actual purchases.

When asked about the Flipkart pilot, a Google spokesperson indicated that the company is "always testing new features and experiences to help people discover and connect with businesses more easily," adding that Google regularly conducts experiments and had no additional information to share at this time.

Separately, Google has been developing infrastructure intended to make AI-driven commerce more broadly functional. Earlier this year, the company introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard built to enable AI agents to interact with retailers throughout the shopping process, including at checkout. At the time of its announcement, Google indicated that UCP would allow users to purchase eligible products through Gemini and AI Mode via a Google-hosted checkout experience. The company has since extended UCP's capabilities, adding functionality that lets shoppers transfer their cart to a retailer's own website to complete a transaction.

The current Flipkart test, however, appears to operate differently from the Google-hosted checkout flow that was demonstrated earlier. When a user taps the Buy button in this version, a Flipkart-branded checkout experience is launched rather than a Google-managed one. The specific technology underpinning this version of the feature has not been disclosed.

Flipkart Among Google's Agentic Shopping Partners

Earlier in October, Google identified Flipkart as one of the retail partners it is working with to bring what it describes as "agentic" shopping experiences to Indian consumers. At that time, however, the company had not shared specifics about the nature of the test or when it planned to make it more widely available.

The relationship between Google and Flipkart extends beyond a technology partnership. In 2024, Google invested approximately $350 million in Flipkart as part of a funding round led by Walmart, acquiring a minority stake in the e-commerce company. That financial tie adds another dimension to the commercial collaboration now taking shape through the AI interface integration.

India's High-Stakes E-Commerce Battleground

India represents a particularly significant market for this kind of experiment. As the world's second-largest internet market, with more than one billion internet subscribers, the country is home to an intensely competitive e-commerce landscape. Flipkart and Amazon India are the dominant players, and their rivalry becomes especially fierce during the festive season, when both platforms launch some of their largest promotional events and discount campaigns of the year.

For now, the Buy button functionality is not being extended to all retailers whose products appear within Google's AI services. In the version of the experience that has been observed, listings from competing platforms - including Amazon - appeared alongside Flipkart products but did not include the option to purchase directly through the AI interface. This suggests that the direct checkout integration, at least at this stage, is exclusive to Flipkart within the Indian market.

Flipkart had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.