India, June 9 -- The familiar ritual of seeking a friend's opinion and scrolling through endless product listings before making an online purchase is beginning to change. With AI transforming almost everything today, shopping has become the next major use case. AI shopping assistants are moving from novelty features to measurable behaviour across the country's ecommerce spectrum.

This means AI has not only become the first point of contact for many users during product discovery but is also helping them make an informed bet before making a purchase.

Propelling this change are Amazon's Rufus, Myntra's Maya, Meesho's Vaani and Flipkart's Flippi, to name a few, which are capable of handholding consumers throughout the purchase cycle - from...