Google tests direct Flipkart purchases inside Gemini and AI Mode in India

Google pilots buying from Flipkart inside Gemini

Google has begun testing direct purchases from Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce platform, inside Gemini and Google's AI Mode search experience, according to TechCrunch. Users in the experiment see a "Buy" button on select Flipkart product listings, and tapping it takes them into a Flipkart checkout flow without leaving the AI interface.

The trial is deliberately narrow, TechCrunch reports. It reaches only some users and a small selection of products, mainly smartphones, electronics and mobile accessories. Everyone else still sees ordinary Flipkart listings in Gemini and AI Mode, with no way to buy directly. One source told TechCrunch that Google plans to widen the experience later in October, ahead of India's festive shopping season, when e-commerce companies run some of their largest sales and promotions of the year.

A different checkout from Google's earlier demos

The implementation appears to diverge from what Google has previously demonstrated. Earlier this year the company introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard designed to let AI agents interact with retailers across the shopping journey, including checkout. Google said the technology would let shoppers buy eligible products through Gemini and AI Mode using a Google-hosted checkout experience, and it has since expanded the protocol so shoppers can transfer items to a retailer's own site to complete a purchase.

The Flipkart test seen by TechCrunch instead brings up a Flipkart-branded checkout when the Buy button is pressed, and it is not clear what technology powers it. Google had confirmed earlier this month that Flipkart was among the merchants partnering with it to bring "agentic" shopping experiences to consumers in India, but had not disclosed the test itself or its rollout timeline.

Asked about the pilot, a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch the company is "always testing new features and experiences to help people discover and connect with businesses more easily," adding that Google regularly runs experiments and had no further details to share.

Not every retailer gets the button

The Buy option is not appearing across all retailers surfaced by Google's AI services. In the experience TechCrunch observed, listings from rivals including Amazon appeared alongside Flipkart products but offered no direct purchase path. Google also has a financial interest in Flipkart beyond the technology partnership: it invested roughly $350 million in the company in 2024 as part of a funding round led by Walmart, taking a minority stake.

The test sits within a wider race. According to TechCrunch, Google and competitors including OpenAI are adding commerce capabilities to their AI offerings, trying to move beyond answering shopping queries and recommending products toward a more direct role in completing online purchases.

Why it matters

The experiment is an early signal of AI assistants graduating from discovery tools to transaction endpoints. If checkout happens inside Gemini or AI Mode, the assistant effectively becomes the storefront, and control over which retailers get purchase buttons becomes commercially decisive. The current test gives that advantage to Flipkart, a company Google partly owns, while Amazon listings in the same interface remain informational — a dynamic that will invite scrutiny as these surfaces scale.

India is a logical proving ground. It is the world's second-largest internet market, with more than a billion internet subscribers, and Flipkart and Amazon compete fiercely for its online shoppers. A wider rollout before the festive season would place in-AI purchasing in front of consumers at the moment of peak spending. The Universal Commerce Protocol suggests Google's larger ambition is an agent-to-retailer standard rather than a single partnership, but until the technology behind this test is clear, each merchant integration may still be a bespoke negotiation.