Agentic commerce platforms: new partnership to power GenAI commerce

In a bold bet on the future of GenAI-driven commerce, Perplexity.ai has announced a partnership with firmly.ai that could change how consumers discover and purchase products and services, including travel and sports. 

The agreement gives merchants a front-row seat on Perplexity’s rapidly growing GenAI-driven platform, giving them a potential sale at the moment they seek detailed buying guidance. Several sources have put Perplexity’s user base north of 15 million users.

By teaming with firmly, Perplexity users will be able to browse and buy products without leaving the platform, preserving consumer attention while streamlining the journey from inquiry to checkout. The technology also promises to protect merchants’ data and brand identity by allowing them to remain the merchant of record, even as they plug into this new digital sales channel.

firmly’s business model centers on what it calls an “Agentic Commerce Platform,” enabling merchants to reach new buyers across diverse digital channels with minimal engineering effort. Acting as the behind-the-scenes connector, firmly allows merchants to integrate once — through a single API — and instantly make their products available to platforms like Perplexity, social media sites and other digital touchpoints.

“People aren’t coming to Perplexity to get to something.com, they’re coming for an answer that helps them do something. In this case, it’s about shopping. But there’s a lot more that folks are doing, and we want to enhance each category.” – said Taz Patel, Perplexity’s head of advertising.

By furnishing real-time data — inventory, shipping times and user reviews — Perplexity aims to save people the typical “blue link chase” that can leave them uncertain or lost.

Much of the excitement stems from a vision of personalized, concierge-like GenAI assistance. Patel envisions a day when Perplexity can detect that a user is planning a trip to Las Vegas — perhaps after scanning their queries about flights, hotels and show tickets — and recommend a last-minute rain jacket if inclement weather is forecast. 

Asked about the business model behind these efforts, Patel said merchants do not pay a fee to join Perplexity’s marketplace, while consumers gain immediate, frictionless access to purchase flows.

“We’re not looking to disintermediate anyone,” he said.

Instead, the aim is to deepen the ecosystem that Perplexity’s GenAI engine has been cultivating since its inception in 2022. Patel also said Perplexity is not planning to stop with retail: “We introduced enriched experiences initially for finance, and now for shopping. Next is travel, sports, and who knows what else? If we see a need for a new feature, or if user behavior points that way, we’ll pursue it.”

Longer term, Patel believes that personalization — learning from each user’s history of queries — is where Perplexity will shine, since the platform can serve more relevant recommendations and results.

More details here: Perplexity, firmly Build Merchant Network to Power GenAI Commerce