Bing, Edge now equipped with AI-powered Microsoft Shopping tools

Bing with ChatGPT can now offer AI-generated buying guides for you. Microsoft has been on a Bing Chat improvement spree lately. As part of its attempt to improve Bing, the company is reportedly prepping to launch an image recognition feature dubbed Bing Vision to its web search engine.

Aside from this, the Redmond, Washington-based technology corporation is testing support for Bing Chat in Google Chrome and Apple Safari browsers. However, it looks like Microsoft isn't planning to stop implementing ChatGPT across its portfolio anytime soon.

The American tech firm has introduced an impressive array of AI-generated shopping tools for Bing search results and its Edge browser. This includes price match comparison and a summarised reviews tool. Also, it comprises a buying guide for popular categories.

Notably, the aforesaid tools have been made available to all U.S. users from June 29. For the buying guide, a Bing search result will bring up product suggestions and display the specs of each product in a comparison table. The shopping tools will be showcased in Bing Chat.

However, you can access them from the Edge browser's sidebar as well. Review summaries use ChatGPT's conversational AI to search for a product. The tool also shows reviews of the product on other websites.

Online shopping just got better

Microsoft announced the features in a new blog post. The company noted that its "goal is to bring more joy to shopping." Furthermore, the tech behemoth said it wants to simplify the process of shopping and assure buyers they are getting the right item at the right price.

Bing, Outlook, Edge, and Microsoft Start already boast useful Microsoft Shopping tools that help you save time and money. Microsoft Edge's built-in features like Price Comparison, Price History, Cashback, and Coupons have helped shoppers worldwide save a whopping $3.7 billion (about 2,900,595,798) in the past year, the company said.

The folks at Tom's Guide believe Price Match is probably the most useful of all the recently introduced tools. The Price Match tool monitors an item's price even after you have bought it. As the name suggests, the AI will help you request a match from the retailer when there's a discount or sale.

Microsoft says Price Comparison and Price History are built-in browser features that assure you are buying "at the right place and time." Also, the tech firm noted that the Edge browser is capable of automatically applying coupons and cashback when you are shopping online from Bing Chat. This one feature did not roll out on June 29. However, it is slated to arrive in the US soon.

How does it work?

The AI uses a potential shopper's search query to determine if they are looking to make a purchase. For example, you can go to Bing.com and type "what are the things I need for trekking?" a tailored buying guide might return suggestions for the best trekking shoes or boots for comfort and grip on the trails.

The results will also list the specs and prices for the best trekking shoes. Moreover, Bing Chat will suggest what you need to consider when shopping for trekking shoes. For instance, it will recommend things like material, grip, and brand. After deciding which pair you want to buy, you can ask Bing Chat to show what other buyers and review sites are saying about the product online.

It is worth noting that a potential buyer doesn't have to leave the Edge sidebar or Bing Chat page. To those unaware, Microsoft integrated ChatGPT into Bing earlier this year. This upgraded version which shows search results in a more interactive way is now known as Bing Chat.

Microsoft initially locked the AI chatbot behind a waitlist. However, the company opened up access to Bing Chat in May. Bing Chat competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI's widely-popular AI bot ChatGPT and Google's Bard.