In Russia, AI Is Asked to “Run to the Store” – for Now, Only Online
An AI agent has completed online purchases on a user’s behalf, automatically selecting the lowest-priced option.
A notable technological milestone has been recorded in Russia: an artificial intelligence system has independently completed a purchase on a user’s behalf and displayed the result directly in a chat interface. The development was announced by Yandex, with transactions carried out as part of beta testing for its AI agent called “Find Cheaper.”
Find Cheaper
The model is built around agent-based online shopping, where a user describes a task and the AI agent handles product search, price comparison, and order placement. The “Find Cheaper” agent, currently available to a limited group of users, analyzes billions of listings – ranging from major marketplaces to independent online stores – and returns the optimal option directly in the chat window. According to Yandex, users involved in testing found products priced, on average, about 20 percent lower than alternatives. The first fully autonomous purchase made by the agent was dog food.
A Boost for Small Businesses
Experts highlight that in 60 percent of cases, the agent identifies the best prices at smaller online retailers rather than large platforms.
Analysts view the development not as an abrupt revolution, but as the start of a gradual shift. According to Olga Pashkova, a lead analyst at Data Insight, the market is seeing its first functioning example of agent-driven commerce:
Experts agree that widespread adoption of such products will be incremental. Still, the fact that real purchases have already been completed suggests that AI agents are moving beyond experimentation and beginning to reshape familiar patterns of digital consumption, evolving into full-fledged assistants for everyday tasks.
