The Maze: Microsoft Edge, Microsoft's web browser, now offers to compare similar products a shopper has open in separate tabs. Accept the offer and Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant, puts prices and specifications side by side next to the retailer page. A separate feature called Checkout Savings searches for a coupon when the shopper reaches checkout. Microsoft announced the tools for Windows and Mac on November 9. The comparison is available in markets where Copilot is offered. Checkout Savings is limited to U.S. English, and features can vary by website.
Video: Microsoft Edge Blog. Microsoft’s demo shows the comparison prompt and Copilot’s side panel using sample headphone listings.
The Details:
Edge offers help before the shopper asks. Imagine you have three pairs of headphones open and want to see which has the longest battery life. Edge can detect that the tabs contain similar products and show a comparison prompt. After you choose to compare, Copilot reads those pages in full and brings their prices and specifications into one panel. You can ask a follow-up using the same tabs. Microsoft had already described asking Copilot to compare across open tabs in May. The change is that Edge can now offer a comparison at the moment it spots similar products.
The coupon appears during checkout. Once a shopper reaches a retailer's checkout, Edge searches for a coupon in the background and can display one if it finds an offer. That saves a separate trip to look for a code. Microsoft doesn't say which retailers will consistently show offers or guarantee a discount on any given cart. The company’s setup guide calls for signing in to Edge with a personal Microsoft account. The shopping setting controls coupons, while the Copilot setting for access to webpage context governs comparisons across tabs.
The older shopping tools serve a different purpose. Edge could already show whether another retailer sells the same item for less, track changes in its price and offer cash back on eligible purchases. Product comparison helps the shopper choose between different items. Checkout Savings then looks for a code the shopper can use on the order. Cashback is separate. It is a rebate on a qualifying purchase and requires activating an offer before buying.
MarketMaze Take: The timing is the change. A shopper no longer has to think to ask an assistant for a side-by-side comparison. Edge can offer one while the shopper is still reading a retailer’s page. That makes the facts a store puts on its product pages more consequential if customers lean on the summary. A battery-life claim is hard to compare when one page omits the test conditions or buries which model the number applies to.
The checkout prompt could also make a discount visible to someone who would have paid without looking for a code. A browser can therefore shape both the product choice and the price a shopper expects to pay while the sale still takes place on the retailer's site. How often that happens depends on where the features work and whether shoppers use them. Microsoft gave no evidence about the effects on retail sales or margins.
