Microsoft rolls out new Copilot shopping tools in US

Microsoft has added new shopping features to Copilot in its Edge browser for US users ahead of the holiday season.

These include cashback, price comparison, price history, product insights, and price tracking, all accessible directly within Copilot in Edge.

When browsing supported retailer sites, users can view price comparisons, price changes over time, and set price alerts.

Copilot mode in Edge can also notify users of available cashback offers and better prices at other retailers.

All features are optional and can be toggled on or off in Edge settings.

Microsoft said these updates aim to help users find deals more efficiently while shopping online.

🔗 Source: Microsoft

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Microsoft Cashback (a retailer-funded rebate program run by Microsoft) runs in 36 countries. You can view participating retailers on the Microsoft Cashback dashboard, and the list can change over time 1.
Cashback payouts go through PayPal after purchase confirmation; a user in Microsoft’s Q&A forum shared a non-receipt case for a payout, which can cause friction for some shoppers 1 2.
In Edge, shopping prompts show in the browser; availability depends on participating retailers and can vary by market 3 1.

Sales & Orders, an e-commerce feed and ads management platform, partners with Microsoft Advertising. It says merchants using Sales & Orders can get Microsoft Merchant Center (the product-catalog system for Shopping listings) store approvals in as little as 5 minutes, though product feeds still go through Microsoft’s standard review 4.
As of July 2020, Microsoft Shopping campaigns ran in 14 markets 4. Coverage included the US; UK; France; Germany; Australia; Canada; India; Austria; Belgium in the French-language region; Italy; Netherlands; Spain; Sweden; and Switzerland.
To appear in Shopping placements (ad and free product-listing slots across Microsoft surfaces), merchants need to create a Microsoft Merchant Center store and verify their domain via Bing Webmaster Tools, Microsoft’s site verification and SEO toolkit 5. They must then submit compliant product feeds.
Participating in Microsoft Cashback can surface eligible offers to shoppers in Edge while they browse and buy 1 3.