Heads Up: AI Shopping Is Coming — Even to Copilot

AI Shopping

​Microsoft keeps on iterating and innovating with AI, and this time you might not exactly love what they’re offering. But you need to know so you can keep your team on track.

Here’s what you need to know about Copilot Checkout, coming soon to…well, everything Microsoft makes, it seems.

What Is Copilot Checkout?

Copilot Checkout is a new AI-driven feature coming to Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant that’s already built into Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365.

It does what it sounds like it does: sells you stuff.

We know, not exactly revolutionary. But the difference is that Copilot Checkout wants to sell you (and your team members) stuff directly within an AI chat window. No shopping cart, no procurement process, and — some fear — no accountability.

Microsoft isn’t coming out of nowhere with this. ChatGPT already rolled out a similar feature, called Instant Checkout. Different from ChatGPT’s recent addition of ads, Instant Checkout can show product recommendations when users ask a question that has to do with products or shopping.

What’s the Problem?

The problem with AI-powered instant shopping comes down to visibility and process. ChatGPT’s version can be genuinely useful when you’re looking for new spatulas or socks. Ask a question, get a recommendation, buy immediately. No friction and minimal risk. But you wouldn’t use it to buy a new car or an engagement ring or a new kitchen remodel, right? Too much risk there for a no-friction, no-guarantees transaction.

You can see where we’re going with this: Is Copilot Checkout really how you want your teams doing business buying? Microsoft seems to think business users want that same level of convenience. But business owners, we’re not so sure they’re on board.

You have buying processes in place for a reason. Employees don’t just go buying whatever they want with no accountability. You want to slow down purchasing, controlling it with approvals, budgets, approved vendors, and so on.

Copilot Checkout doesn’t seem like it works with these processes out of the gate.

What’s worse, this kind of seems like the point.

More Purchasing Is Good for Microsoft

Microsoft points to internal data that says people buy more often when Copilot is involved in the process flow. On the one hand, Microsoft could say it’s just helping people find what they need with less friction. But take a step back and ask who benefits from more purchasing, and how?

Nothing’s stopping Microsoft from steering Copilot users to its own products, or from taking a cut of third-party products it recommends. Who can say how much confidence you should have in those recommendations?

New Purchase Pathways, Novel Payment Methods

Copilot Checkout may not be all bad for you. Surely some businesses will find this service convenient and helpful. But for all but the smallest businesses, it does seem to open new purchase pathways that don’t necessarily jive with existing processes.

Another factor is payment methods. Copilot doesn’t, up till now, really know your financial information, and Microsoft knows many users won’t want to turn that over. So it’s partnering with fintechs like Stripe, Shopify, and PayPal to handle the integrated payments. These are trustworthy, established platforms — no concerns there. But they are all sort of alternative payment pathways that may run outside your existing purchasing processes.

Your Next Steps: Establish Rules and Evaluate Processes

Like so many new AI features, Copilot Checkout just landed on businesses, and it didn’t bring with it any real warning, roadmap, or implementation plan. That leaves businesses scrambling to decide how to handle the latest innovation.

Whether Copilot Checkout sounds like a threat or a great value-add, your next steps should be the same. First, establish clear rules for how your team can and can’t use this service, with a special focus on anyone with any form of buying power. Second, if you choose to use it, evaluate all your purchasing processes to make sure they can accommodate this new purchase pathway.

Got questions? We can help. Reach out anytime.

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