Reddit Tests AI-Powered Shopping Features
Reddit is piloting a new AI-powered shopping feature that creates shoppable product carousels from community recommendations in search results. The experiment leverages the platform's reputation for authentic human advice, but faces skepticism from users concerned that an increase in AI-generated content is eroding the platform's trustworthiness.
- The initial test is focused on consumer electronics, with the AI surfacing product carousels for searches like "best noise-canceling headphones" for a select group of U.S. users. - This feature is an extension of Reddit's previous e-commerce initiatives, including the launch of Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) last year and a partnership with WooCommerce to onboard more merchants to the platform. - Reddit's push into search-based commerce follows a 30% year-over-year increase in its weekly active search users, which grew from 60 million to 80 million. - The technology scans posts and comments for product mentions, then matches them with inventory from Reddit's advertising partners to generate the shoppable carousels. - This move places Reddit in more direct competition with established social commerce players like TikTok and Instagram, which are increasingly using AI to power in-app purchasing and product recommendations. - The U.S. social commerce market is a significant prize, with projections indicating it will surpass $150 billion in revenue by 2029. - Reddit's COO, Jen Wong, has stated that the company uses its own AI models to track user behavior across subreddits to help brands tailor their ad relevancy.
