Google's Gemini test lets Indian shoppers buy from Flipkart but not Amazon

Google is testing a Buy button for Walmart-owned Flipkart in Gemini and AI Mode for some shoppers in India.

Amazon listings next to them don’t have that option.

Smartphones and accessories lead the early AI Mode trial

People familiar with the matter said tapping on Buy takes users to a Flipkart checkout without leaving the AI interface. The early test covers some users and a short list of goods.

Categories are smartphones, electronics and mobile accessories. Other users are still seeing regular Flipkart listings in Gemini and AI Mode, with no buy option.

A spokesperson said to TechCrunch that Google is “always testing new features and experiences to help people discover and connect with businesses more easily.” The company regularly conducts experiments, the spokesperson added, and had no further details.

The buy option is not yet showing in every retailer in Google’s AI results. Amazon listings popped up alongside Flipkart products, but there was no option to purchase via the AI interface.

A $350 million stake links the search giant to Walmart’s Indian retailer

Google is aiming for a wider rollout later in October, ahead of India’s festive shopping season, said one person familiar with the plan. Flipkart and Amazon have some of their biggest sales of the year in that window.

India is the second largest internet market in the world with over a billion internet subscribers.

In September, Google named Flipkart as one of the merchants it’s working with on “agentic” shopping in India.

This year, Google revealed the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard that allows AI agents to deal with retailers, all the way through to checkout. It said shoppers would buy eligible products in Gemini and AI Mode via a checkout hosted by Google.

The Flipkart test looks different. Buy brings up a Flipkart-branded checkout and the technology behind it is unclear.

If “the checkout goes to Gemini, the merchant loses the last touch point,” Richard Crone, chief executive of Crone Consulting, said in January, Cryptopolitan reported.

Google acquired a minority stake in Flipkart in 2024, investing around $350 million in a Walmart-led round.

Google began enabling users to shop at Walmart, Wayfair and Etsy through Search and Gemini in February, according to Cryptopolitan.

Vidhya Srinivasan, who heads up Google ads and commerce, said the company was “reinventing what an ad is.”

Srinivasan dubbed it groundwork for “a future where all commercial experiences can be seamless and agentic.” In January, PayPal said it endorsed the protocol.

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