The news: Commercetools is launching Cora, a smart AI shopping assistant focused on conversational commerce that plugs into retailers’ sites. It’s available now as a preview.

• Cora can shop and explore products based on conversational input (e.g., “I’m looking for a red dress under $150”) and translate it into relevant search results, filter options, and offer product links—not just keyword matches.
• The shopping assistant can also remember conversations, context, and cart status across devices and channels.

It will debut with AI-powered product search capabilities and roll out agentic abilities over time, including autonomous checkout options.

Why it matters: Conversational commerce tools reduce friction in the path to purchase by letting AI take over the navigation and product-hunting aspects of shopping. Assistants like Cora could accelerate purchases on brand sites as they guide users toward checkout.

• Commercetools says it can keep shoppers inside a retailer’s ecosystem, ensuring that conversion happens within owned channels.
• Cora is also white-labeled, letting brands personalize and customize the experience to preserve brand identity while using Commercetools’ security, governance, and data controls.

The bigger picture: Instead of generic recommendation engines or static chat widgets, the next wave of AI tools is designed to perform tasks inside retail systems—assembling carts, verifying inventory, checking out, and even handling post-purchase customer service autonomously.

• Platform players like Shopify, Salesforce, and Adobe are embedding conversational layers directly into their ecommerce suites.
• AI platforms like OpenAI and Perplexity are building shopping features atop general assistants, competing for discovery and search traffic.

Our take: Brands should treat AI shopping companions not as novelty add-ons, but as extensions of their customer service experience to promote in-channel product exploration and purchases, especially when the assistants’ voice and experience are aligned with brand identity.