Reddit revealed on Thursday its trial of a new AI-powered search feature that connects community endorsements with products from its various shopping and advertising affiliates.
A select group of U.S. users will soon encounter search outcomes featuring interactive product carousels, complete with pricing details, images, and direct links for purchasing.
This announcement highlights Reddit’s broader objective to merge its community-driven platform with e-commerce functionalities. This initiative follows Reddit’s introduction last year of its initial shoppable ad product, Dynamic Product Ads (DPA), which delivers tailored product suggestions to users based on their interests.
Consequently, users participating in the test who search for phrases such as “best noise-canceling headphones” or “electronic gift ideas for a college student” will now find a carousel of relevant products positioned at the bottom of their results.
This carousel will showcase products explicitly mentioned by users within discussions on related posts and comments. Should users tap on a product, they can access additional details and then be redirected to the retailer to complete their purchase.
“This feature surfaces top-recommended products directly from discussions, giving redditors instant information about any product,” the company noted in a blog post. It added, “This test is designed to make Reddit easier to navigate while keeping community perspectives at the center of the experience. We’ll continue learning from how people use this new feature and refine the experience over time.”
While social media giants like TikTok and Instagram have long incorporated shopping capabilities, Reddit is now aiming to adopt a similar approach. Notably, Reddit is not the sole tech platform recently exploring AI-driven shopping, as OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched an “Instant Checkout” feature last September, enabling users to finalize Etsy and Shopify purchases directly within their conversations.
Thursday’s revelation comes after Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stated during the company’s recent earnings release that the platform’s AI search engine could represent a major future opportunity for its business, serving not just as a product enhancement but also as a significant revenue generator.
Huffman also highlighted that weekly active users for search increased by 30% over the past year, growing from 60 million to 80 million, while weekly active users for the AI-powered Reddit Answers feature surged from 1 million in Q1 2025 to 15 million by Q4.