Google tests buying Flipkart goods inside Gemini and AI Mode in India

TechCrunch reports that Google is testing a feature in India that lets users buy products from Walmart-owned Flipkart directly through Gemini and AI Mode. Instead of finding a link and jumping into a shopping app, the purchase happens inside Google's AI surface.

The test is deliberately narrow. It covers only select products and select users, and a broader rollout is planned for later in October, which would widen both the catalogue and the audience over time.

Once an AI Mode answer can close a sale, Google's conversational surface crosses from information into transactions, and the existing ordering of shopping ads and product recommendations has to be rearranged. For retailers the question becomes where the entry point sits; for advertisers it becomes what visibility even means.

Choosing India for a first test of this kind is itself a signal. Flipkart, which Walmart owns, gives Google a single merchant partner to run the flow against before opening the capability more widely, rather than forcing the harder question of open checkout access at the start.

The other question is who carries the transaction. Merchandise, inventory, delivery and after-sales service still belong to Flipkart; Google supplies the conversational entry point and the act of buying. That split shapes how the two sides negotiate over data, placement and commissions.

This is also where a cohort of AI assistants is heading: from answering questions to performing actions on a user's behalf. Whoever makes conversational checkout reliable first has a chance to become a default shopping surface rather than just a question-answering tool.

Watch the October rollout for scope, the first batch of supported product categories, which party handles payment and checkout, and whether Google extends similar capabilities to merchants beyond Flipkart.