Google is testing a way for people in India to buy products from Walmart-owned Flipkart directly through its Gemini assistant and the AI Mode in Search, TechCrunch reported Saturday. The company plans to widen the test in October, ahead of India's festive shopping season.

What Happened

For some users, select Flipkart product listings in Gemini and AI Mode now show a Buy button. Tapping it takes shoppers into Flipkart's checkout flow without leaving the AI interface. Other users still see standard Flipkart listings without the purchase option.

The test is limited to certain product types, including smartphones, electronics and mobile accessories. Amazon listings also show up in Gemini and AI Mode results, but they do not carry the direct purchase option, according to TechCrunch.

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Google did not give details. A spokesperson said the company is always testing new features to help people discover and connect with businesses more easily, and that such experiments run regularly.

Why It Matters

The test moves Google's AI products from recommending products toward completing the sale. Whoever controls checkout inside an assistant gains a direct role in the transaction and in the relationship with the merchant, a position search engines have not held when they only sent users to a retailer's site.

The choice of partner is notable. Google took a minority stake in Flipkart in 2024 for about $350 million. Flipkart and Amazon are the two largest e-commerce platforms in India, so offering one-tap buying only for Flipkart items, even in a test, gives Flipkart an advantage inside Google's AI results at the moment Amazon listings appear alongside.

The timing lines up with the retail calendar. India's festive season, which runs around Diwali, is the country's biggest online shopping period of the year, and a wider rollout in October would put the feature in front of shoppers when purchase volume peaks.

The Race for AI Checkout

Earlier this year Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard meant to let AI agents handle shopping tasks, including checkout, with participating merchants. The Flipkart test is the kind of in-assistant purchase flow that the standard is meant to support.

Google is not alone. OpenAI and other assistant makers have been adding their own shopping and checkout features to their assistants. India, with a very large base of smartphone shoppers, is a significant market in which to show that users will buy inside an AI chat or search result rather than going to a store's own app.

What to Watch

Watch whether the October rollout brings more merchants beyond Flipkart into Gemini and AI Mode, and whether Amazon's listings gain the same Buy option. How Amazon and Indian competition authorities respond to a checkout feature tied to a company in which Google holds a stake will also be worth following, as will any sign of what fees or data Google receives from completed purchases.