Perplexity

Objective

Open a channel where the user moves from product search to purchase without leaving the assistant, and give brands a way to be recommended and sold directly in the answers.

The deployment

In November 2024, Perplexity launched Buy with Pro, a one-click checkout reserved at first for its Pro subscribers in the United States. The user receives product recommendations in the answers and can order without going to the merchant's site: address and card stored in Perplexity, tax calculation, free shipping on Buy with Pro orders. The discovery experience relies on a Shopify integration to access the products of merchants that sell and ship to the United States. In parallel, Perplexity opened a free merchant program: brands share their product specifications via a single API, keep 100 percent of the sales revenue, and gain visibility in the recommendations. Perplexity reported a 5x increase in shopping-intent queries since launch.

Results Proof C

Launch covered by name by the established press (TechCrunch), cross-checked by Perplexity's official blog and the e-commerce trade press. The 5x figure is a platform statement, hence a C level rather than B.

The internal detail is not public. Here is a proven approach that leads to the same result, to adapt to your stack.

1. 1
   Enrollment in the merchant program marketing

   The brand shares its product specifications via Perplexity's single API, for free.

2. 2
   Indexing and recommendation AI

   Perplexity indexes the products and offers them in answers with purchase intent.

3. 3
   In-app checkout customer

   The user orders in one click inside Perplexity; the order is passed to the merchant, who keeps 100 percent of the revenue.

4. 4
   Fulfillment and shipping e-commerce team

   The brand handles the order and ships it through its existing logistics operation.