Blog post
Conversations that Convert: Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents
Your customers are already shopping with AI. And the gap between “I'm interested” and “I’m buying” is shrinking, with the fight for conversions moving upstream. A shopper asks a question, gets guidance, compares options, and decides—all in the same interaction.
This shift is happening everywhere: inside AI assistants like Copilot and on brand websites. Wherever shoppers are, they now expect AI to know what they need and help them act on it.
For merchants, the opportunity is clear: whoever shows up the strongest in the moments that matter will close the sale. AI can now bring high-intent shoppers straight to checkout, offering interactive guidance at the speed of a prompt.
Today we're unveiling two capabilities to help merchants thrive in this landscape shift:
- Copilot Checkout turns conversations into conversions—instantly. No redirect, no friction, and you stay the merchant of record.
- Brand Agents bring AI-powered guidance for customers to your own site—your brand's voice, built for fast, scalable adoption.
Introducing Copilot Checkout
Screens simulated for illustrative purposes only. Results to prompts and product experience may vary based on merchant and item availability.
A shopper is hosting a dinner party and asks Copilot for a dress recommendation. Within seconds, they’ve compared three options, asked follow-up questions, and made a decision. In the past, this journey would’ve taken a dozen tabs and possibly ended up with an abandoned cart.
Copilot Checkout can help solve that problem.
By being there for the customer’s spark of inspiration, the quick product comparison, the question of value, and the decision to purchase, Copilot Checkout evolves from an AI platform into a true retail companion. Conversation to conversion all happens in one place, frictionless. We know that meeting the customer where they are—and standing ready for when they want to make that purchase—is core to the success of any retailer.
We also know so many businesses don’t want to just hand their customers to an AI agent that won’t put in the work to keep them engaged with a brand. With Copilot Checkout, you stay the merchant of record. You own the transaction, the customer data, and the relationship.
The result is an empowered merchant and a happy customer. Less friction, greater access, more conversions.
“By teaming up with Microsoft, we’re enabling merchants to become AI-ready and enabling scale through Copilot’s trusted commerce infrastructure. This partnership will help our vast ecosystem of tens of millions of merchants grow efficiently, while providing consumers with an enjoyable and intuitive shopping experience when checking out with PayPal."
— Mike Edmonds, VP of Agentic Commerce, PayPal
Across Copilot shopping experiences, the early signals of conversion are promising:
- Journeys that include Copilot led to 53% more purchases within 30 minutes of interaction compared to those without.1
- When shopping intent is present, journeys with Copilot are 194% more likely to result in a purchase.1
Hassle-free merchant onboarding
Copilot Checkout is beginning to roll out in the U.S. on Copilot.com, with partner activation across PayPal, Shopify, and Stripe, with more of their retailers ramping throughout the month.
For merchants who want to onboard using PayPal or Stripe: We're now accepting applications. Apply here to be a Copilot Checkout merchant.
“AI is changing how commerce works, and as with every technology shift, it needs new infrastructure. Stripe is building that infrastructure, and Microsoft is putting it to use by enabling commerce inside Copilot. Along with Microsoft, we are making it easier and faster for merchants to thrive in the agentic commerce era."
— Kevin Miller, Head of Payments, Stripe
If you're on Shopify, you'll automatically be able to sell in Copilot Checkout. No application. No integration. Shopify merchants will be automatically enrolled following an opt-out window.
“Copilot Checkout can move a customer from intent to transaction in seconds, all without leaving the conversation. It’s the merchant’s checkout powered by Shopify, seamlessly fitting into the customer's experience. This is the modern power of Agentic Storefronts: personalization and relevance, trust and accuracy, speed and convenience.”
— Mani Fazeli, VP of Product, Shopify
Merchant-forward by design
Join our growing list of Copilot Checkout merchants. Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Ashley Furniture, plus unique and handcrafted items from Etsy sellers, will all be available at launch—with many more joining soon.
As Copilot Checkout expands across the Copilot ecosystem (Bing, MSN, Edge, and more), you're automatically there. No extra integration, no new set up. Just expanded reach.
“At Etsy, our job is to make it simple for people to discover the special things our sellers create. By bringing Etsy’s unique inventory to Copilot Checkout, we’re meeting buyers at the moment intent becomes action. With one integration, we open the door for our sellers to show up across new surfaces without extra work. It’s a straightforward way to connect their creativity to high-intent buyers—and to keep commerce human as shopping evolves.”
— Rafe Colburn, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Etsy
Looking forward, as part of our overall agentic commerce journey, we’re already working with trusted partners like Mastercard and Visa, leveraging solutions like Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa Intelligent Commerce. We’ll continue to drive innovation across the ecommerce ecosystem, and we’re committed to creating solutions that delight customers and keep your business ahead of evolving shopper expectations.
Screens simulated for illustrative purposes only. Results to prompts and product experience may vary based on merchant and item availability.
Meet Brand Agents: Your brand’s voice, powered by AI
Every great in-store experience has a knowledgeable associate... someone who understands your brand, listens to the customer, and helps them find the right product with confidence. Brand Agents bring that same experience to your website.
Brand Agents are AI-powered shopping assistants that speak in your brand’s voice and guide customers naturally from curiosity to purchase. Deployed in hours—not weeks—they turn everyday questions into meaningful conversations that help shoppers discover more, decide faster, and feel confident clicking “buy.” The result is a more intuitive shopping experience and measurable performance gains. Across merchants, sessions assisted by Brand Agents deliver higher engagement and stronger conversion than sessions without them.
Alexander Del Rossa, a premium sleepwear retailer, saw over 3X higher conversion rates in Brand Agent-assisted sessions compared to unassisted sessions.
“Integrating Brand Agents into our Shopify store was the best example of AI integration seen to date. Brand Agents learned our inventory and provided recommendations that required little engagement from our team."
— Tony Baldwin, CTO, Alexander Del Rossa
Customer-centric interactivity that feels natural
Just as good store associates don’t force customers straight to the cash register, Brand Agents don’t force customers through menus or filters. They meet shoppers where they are, helping them explore and intentionally moving them to purchase.
- Intuitive conversations: A customer might start with, “What would be a good gift for my mom?” The agent responds in your brand’s voice, asks the right follow-up questions, compares relevant products, and narrows options based on fit, preferences, and intent—just like a great associate would.
- Product comparison, guidance, and assistance: As shoppers get closer to purchase, Brand Agents help remove friction. They answer last-minute questions about shipping or returns, surface checkout links at the right moment, and recommend complementary products that feel helpful without being pushy.
- Upselling and cross-selling: Because Brand Agents understand your catalog and customer behavior, they can also support post-purchase moments—suggesting add-ons, replenishments, or related products based on what a customer has already bought.
The outcome is simple: more confident shoppers, better discovery, and higher conversion... all without sacrificing your brand voice or customer trust.
Brand Agents insights, powered by Microsoft Clarity
Built inside Microsoft Clarity and powered by Microsoft’s advanced AI and enterprise‑grade privacy, Brand Agents insights deliver actionable insights to improve performance.
Microsoft Clarity is a free analytics tool to help merchants understand shopper behavior through heatmaps and session replays, giving insights to optimize engagement and conversions on your website.
Easy-to-understand dashboards provide views of key performance metrics including engagement rates, conversion uplift, average order value, and more.
Once you’ve activated Brand Agents, you’ll have access to additional insights to understand performance of agent-assisted sessions compared to organic traffic and use these insights to optimize strategy and drive growth.
How to get started with Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents
Copilot Checkout
If you’re not already part of Microsoft Merchant Center (MMC), join today. Although MMC is not required to sell through Copilot Checkout, product feeds from MMC help inform organic Copilot results.
Ready to enable Copilot Checkout? Microsoft is adopting open standards like the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) to ensure merchant onboarding is seamless and scalable.
For non-Shopify merchants, apply to be a Copilot Checkout merchant here. (Shopify merchants, you’ll be automatically enrolled—no need to apply. You can manage and control Copilot Checkout directly from the Shopify admin.)
Brand Agents
Brand Agents is now available for Shopify merchants. Learn more here.
Getting started is easy! First, install Microsoft Clarity on your Shopify store. Once Clarity is set up, click “Join Waitlist” on the Clarity homepage for early access. And if you already have Clarity installed, just select “Join Waitlist.”
See it live at NRF
Join us at the National Retail Federation conference from January 11 to 13 to see live demos of Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents in action. Experience agentic commerce for yourself and see how we’re turning conversations into conversions and helping merchants grow in the age of AI-driven retail.
Explore more on AI-powered discovery
For a deeper dive into how brands like yours can win in the era of AI-powered discovery, download our new playbook, “From Discovery to Influence: A Guide to AEO and GEO.” This playbook outlines actionable strategies for optimizing your brand’s presence across AI assistants, browsers, and agents—helping you turn discovery into measurable growth.
[1] Microsoft Internal Data, August 2025.
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