Flipkart will launch a new conversational AI shopping assistant called Shop Like a Pro (SLAP) next week, according to an Economic Times report. The company will introduce the tool as a standalone app, replacing its earlier AI assistant, Flippi, which it announced in 2023.
SLAP is designed to help users shop through conversation. It will initially offer personalised product recommendations, suggest items based on user needs, and answer customer queries. People familiar with the development told The Economic Times that Flipkart has created a separate team to work on the product and plans to roll it out in phases.
The rise of conversational commerce in e-commerce
The new assistant reflects a broader push across global e-commerce companies to use artificial intelligence to influence how people discover and buy products online. Flipkart positions SLAP alongside similar tools such as Walmart’s Sparky and Amazon’s Rufus, which guide users through shopping using conversational interfaces.
Amazon has publicly linked its AI assistant to revenue growth. During an earnings call in November, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Rufus could generate $10 billion in additional annualised sales.
The push towards AI-led shopping is not limited to retailers. Earlier this week, Google launched its Universal Commerce Protocol, which allows AI agents to directly interact with e-commerce platforms. This system enables artificial intelligence to go beyond recommendations and complete tasks such as selecting products and checking out. Google is working with companies including Shopify, Etsy, Target, and Walmart as part of this effort.
Flipkart’s move comes as e-commerce companies increasingly test whether conversational AI can meaningfully change how users shop and how much they spend. While global players have begun sharing revenue expectations and usage figures, Flipkart has not disclosed how SLAP will impact sales, user engagement, or conversion rates, indicating that the product is still at an early stage of deployment.
From chat to execution: the AI “execution-layer race”
The launch of SLAP aligns with a broader shift in artificial intelligence development towards systems that go beyond chat-based assistance and begin to shape decisions and outcomes. Writing in Reasoned, MediaNama founder Nikhil Pahwa has described this phase as an “execution-layer race” rather than a competition between AI models.
“This is not an AI model race. It’s an execution-layer race,” Pahwa wrote, arguing that companies gain real competitive advantage from how they deploy AI systems across workflows such as commerce, advertising, and customer support.
In e-commerce, this shift raises structural questions about trust and risk. As Pahwa notes, once AI systems move from answering queries to influencing or completing transactions, the cost of failure increases sharply. “Content is easy. Money is where people start thinking about what could go…
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