Reddit is testing a new AI search feature for shopping

Reddit announced connected Thursday that it’s investigating a caller AI hunt instrumentality that takes assemblage recommendations and matches them with products from immoderate of the company’s buying and advertizing partners.

A tiny radical of users successful the U.S. volition commencement to spot hunt results that see interactive merchandise carousels with pricing, images, and nonstop where-to-buy links.

The announcement reflects Reddit’s broader propulsion to harvester its community-driven level with e-commerce capabilities. The determination comes arsenic Reddit launched its first shoppable advertisement product past year, called Dynamic Product Ads (DPA), which show personalized merchandise recommendations to users based connected their interests.

Now, erstwhile users who are portion of the trial hunt for thing similar “best noise-canceling headphones” oregon “electronic acquisition ideas for a assemblage student,” they volition spot a carousel of related products astatine the bottommost of the results.

This carousel volition diagnostic products straight mentioned by users from conversations connected related posts and comments. If users pat connected the product, they tin presumption much details and past beryllium directed to the retailer to acquisition the item.

“This diagnostic surfaces top-recommended products straight from discussions, giving redditors instant accusation astir immoderate product,” the institution wrote successful a blog post. “This trial is designed to marque Reddit easier to navigate portion keeping assemblage perspectives astatine the halfway of the experience. We’ll proceed learning from however radical usage this caller diagnostic and refine the acquisition implicit time.”

While platforms similar TikTok and Instagram person agelong integrated buying features, Reddit is present looking to travel suit. Of course, Reddit isn’t the lone tech level that precocious started exploring AI-driven shopping, arsenic OpenAI’s ChatGPT rolled retired an “Instant Checkout” diagnostic past September that lets users make Etsy and Shopify purchases wrong conversations.

Thursday’s announcement comes aft Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said during the company’s net merchandise past week that the platforms’s AI hunt motor could beryllium the adjacent large accidental for its business, not conscionable successful presumption of product, but besides arsenic a gross driver.

Huffman besides noted that play progressive users for hunt grew 30% implicit the past year, expanding from 60 cardinal to 80 million, portion play progressive users for the AI-powered Reddit Answers diagnostic roseate from 1 cardinal successful the archetypal 4th of 2025 to 15 cardinal by the 4th quarter.