According to Windows Report | Error-free Tech Life, Microsoft is now testing a new Copilot Checkout feature for its US users. This feature lets customers buy products directly within the Copilot AI chat interface without ever leaving the conversation. It’s powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol, an open standard built by OpenAI and Stripe that also drives ChatGPT’s own checkout. The test is launching with major brands including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Furniture, and some Etsy sellers, while Shopify merchants are automatically eligible. The feature is initially available on Copilot.com, with plans to expand to Bing, MSN, and Microsoft Edge. Businesses retain all customer and transaction data, and other merchants can apply through a Microsoft form using PayPal or Stripe.
The AI Shopping Agent War Is On
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a nifty checkout button. It’s Microsoft planting a flag in what’s becoming the next major battleground for AI assistants—being a useful, actionable shopping agent. OpenAI’s already doing this with ChatGPT. Google’s Gemini is surely thinking about it. Now, Microsoft is making its move, and it’s doing so by leveraging its massive distribution network across Bing, Edge, and Windows. The real clever bit is using that open protocol from OpenAI and Stripe. It basically lets them skip years of complex payments infrastructure development and instantly play in the same league. For users, the promise is obvious: less friction. See a cool jacket in chat, buy it in chat. No redirects, no new tabs, no copied links. That’s powerful, if it works smoothly.
What This Means For Brands and Buyers
For the merchants in the test—the Urban Outfitters, the Etsy sellers—this is a huge experiment. They’re getting early access to a potentially new sales channel that lives inside a conversational interface. But it’s a double-edged sword. They keep their customer data, which is critical, but they’re also handing over a piece of the customer journey to Microsoft’s Copilot. The bigger play, though, is those brand AI agents for Shopify stores Microsoft is also tinkering with. Imagine an AI sales assistant that knows a store’s entire catalog and can upsell you. That’s not just a checkout; it’s a whole new front-end. For shoppers, the convenience is tantalizing. But I have to ask: do we really want our shopping chats to also be our checkout? Where does discovery end and persuasion begin?
The Bigger Picture: Seamless Everything
Microsoft’s vision here is clear: meet users where they are, which is increasingly inside a chat box. They want Copilot to be the layer that sits over everything—search, browsing, and now commerce. It’s a strategy of supreme convenience. If they can make buying a couch as easy as asking a question, why wouldn’t you use it? The risk, of course, is that it feels intrusive or that the AI pushes products you don’t want. But the potential reward for Microsoft is a slice of countless micro-transactions, all flowing through an ecosystem they control. This test is small, but the ambition isn’t. They’re betting that the future of online shopping isn’t a website—it’s a conversation.
