Chatbots Can Now Help You Try On Clothes And Find Deals

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A new wave of AI-powered shopping assistants is changing how we navigate online retail. Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and OpenAI are rolling out tools that do more than make recommendations. These digital agents can understand preferences, hunt for deals, and even visualise how clothing fits using your own photos. While they still require user confirmation before any transaction happens, they are becoming increasingly involved in the shopping process.

Google recently introduced an AI Mode that lets users overlay their image with clothes they find online. The feature adjusts for fit and fabric flow, allowing a more realistic preview. Users can set a preferred price, and the system will continue scanning online stores until it finds a match. At that point, it simply alerts the user and offers to complete the purchase using Google’s payment system. Nothing is bought without approval.

OpenAI has added a shopping feature to ChatGPT that suggests products and links to retailers. Amazon has introduced a Buy for Me mode through its Rufus assistant, which automates checkout steps on other websites. Perplexity AI now allows subscribers to complete purchases directly in-app. Even Walmart is exploring how its own digital agent can prioritise its catalogue when users shop elsewhere. Global payment networks like Visa and Mastercard have also upgraded their systems to support transactions initiated by digital agents.

These tools are not impulsive spenders. Instead, they are strategic assistants designed to increase efficiency and keep users within the brand ecosystem. For Malaysian shoppers familiar with checkout fatigue during Shopee sales or late-night Lazada scrolls, this could soon mean having an AI quietly working in the background. Imagine a system tracking price drops, alerting you at the right time, and offering to check out using your eWallet only after getting your go-ahead.

The real shift is not in who clicks pay but in who drives the process. As AI systems gain a deeper understanding of our spending habits, they start nudging our decisions. The more we rely on them to research and filter choices, the more invisible their influence becomes. That may not be a bad thing if it saves time and reduces decision stress, but it does raise questions about control and consent.

Google claims users will have to opt in before granting access to personal data like Gmail or app usage. Even so, in a country where digital privacy laws are still evolving and AI governance remains unclear, Malaysians may want to stay alert. The technology is moving faster than the policies regulating it.