Google tests buying from Walmart-owned Flipkart through Gemini and AI Mode in India
TechCrunch Jagmeet Singh
Google is testing a Buy button in Gemini and AI Mode for Flipkart shoppers in India. It’s a step from product search into checkout, just ahead of the festive shopping rush.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Jagmeet Singh — read the original for the full story.
Summary, retelling and take written by AI under human oversight; images are AI-generated illustrations. How we work · Report an error
Google has begun testing a way for people in India to buy items from Walmart-owned Flipkart without leaving Gemini or AI Mode. In the test, select product listings show a Buy button that sends shoppers straight into Flipkart’s checkout flow. No extra tab. No detour through a browser. Just the purchase path tucked inside Google’s AI tools.
The test is small for now. It reaches only some users and only a narrow set of products, including smartphones, electronics and mobile accessories. Everyone else still sees standard Flipkart listings inside Gemini and AI Mode, with no direct-buy option attached. Google plans a broader rollout later in October, just in time for India’s festive shopping season.
That timing matters. India is one of the biggest prizes in online retail, with more than a billion internet subscribers, and the festive period is when retailers push some of their loudest promotions. Flipkart and Amazon already fight hard for those shoppers, and Google is trying to insert itself earlier in the buying process than a simple search result or recommendation.
The move also fits a wider shift across AI products. Google and rivals such as OpenAI are trying to make their assistants useful not just for finding products, but for completing purchases. Google has already been building the plumbing for that through its Universal Commerce Protocol, which it says can let AI agents work with retailers across the shopping journey, including checkout. But this Flipkart test looks different from the Google-hosted checkout experience Google previously showed off, because it opens a Flipkart-branded checkout flow instead.
Google would not say much beyond the usual line about testing new features. It also has a financial stake in Flipkart, after investing about $350 million in 2024 as part of a funding round led by the U.S. retailer. Amazon listings showed up in the same AI experience too, but without the Buy button. So for now, Google is not turning AI shopping into a universal mall. It is picking a partner and seeing whether people actually click through.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the part where AI stops being a demo and starts trying to take a cut. The shopping bots were always going here; the polite product recommendations were just the lobby. Google backing Flipkart makes the whole thing feel less like an open standard and more like a very well-lit shortcut to someone else’s checkout page.
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