eBay unveils AI agent aimed at helping shoppers unearth hidden ‘treasures’

• eBay launched its first AI-powered shopping agent to help users navigate its vast catalog through personalized, conversational guidance—part of a broader industry shift, echoed by Wayfair, toward using generative AI to enhance product discovery and customer experience.

eBay announced the launch of its first consumer-facing shopping agent, part of a broader push by e-commerce giants to harness generative AI in reshaping how people discover products online. The new tool, which eBay calls a “companion”, is designed to guide users through its vast, often overwhelming catalog, surfacing unique and hard-to-find items using conversational prompts and iterative reasoning.

“We’re announcing the launch of our new shopping agent, eBay’s first consumer-facing experience powered by our agentic AI platform,” Nitzan Mekel, chief AI officer at eBay, told the audience at Fortune Brainstorm AI in London. “The idea is for the UI to act as a companion—integrated and seamless.”

Unlike traditional keyword search, the agent helps interpret a shopper’s nuanced intent and steers them toward relevant listings. “Instead of users having to know how to navigate eBay, the agent can do it for them,” Mekel said.

Wayfair and eBay both betting on personalization to drive e-commerce growth

The rollout underscores a larger shift across digital retail. Competitors like Wayfair are also leaning into AI to blend inspiration with personalization, particularly for shoppers who don’t always know what they’re looking for until they see it.

“Wayfair is similar to eBay in that we have many items for the home, but it can sometimes be overwhelming,” said Fiona Tan, Chief Technology Officer at Wayfair, speaking on the same panel at Fortune Brainstorm AI. “Sometimes, shoppers don’t know exactly what they want until they see it. We use generative AI to create imagery and inspiration.”

Both executives emphasized that AI is not just about speed or automation—it’s about improving discovery, building trust, and delivering more tailored experiences to users across generations.

“There's been this promise that the joy that some people get from browsing and treasure hunting in a physical experience will one day translate in the same way online,” said Mekel. “We can offer that, where for whatever your interest is, you have a personalised expert agent that can really help you along that journey and frankly, make it fun."

That expertise, eBay says, is grounded in decades of marketplace data and community insight. “Our advantage is 30 years of data, including expert and enthusiast input in niche categories,” Mekel said. “We’re always looking for ways to enrich this data... to make the agent more knowledgeable.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com