Users are moving from keywords to detailed queries, driving higher conversions, influencing what products are purchased on instant delivery platforms
The adoption of AI-led search is reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products in the quick commerce sector, with platforms reporting more specific queries and higher-value transactions. Users are increasingly shifting from basic keywords to detailed, conversational queries, enabling platforms to better interpret intent and improve conversion outcomes.
According to Google, searches across commerce platforms are becoming more conversational and context-rich, with multimodal queries — including text, voice, image and regional language inputs — growing rapidly in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Voice search queries in India are growing at 270 per cent annually, largely in Hindi, Tamil and other Indic languages, with tier 2 and 3 cities driving 32 per cent year-on-year online shopping growth, compared with 15 per cent in metros.
Meghna Shankaranarayanan, Industry Head, Fintech, Google, noted: “At Google, we are seeing searches become longer, more complex and more conversational. People want to write an entire sentence, and they expect not only a link, but also an answer, summary or analysis.”
Changing search behaviour drives discovery
“Earlier, people were very sure about what they wanted — one- or two-word searches. Now, searches are becoming very different. Users are doing research within the search itself,” said Paroosh Elavia, Head of Growth at Zepto.
He added that these changes are influencing what users discover and purchase. “People are searching for things like ‘high-protein eggs’, ‘pet-friendly cleaners’ or specific items for different times of the day, from puja needs in the morning to snacks and party essentials at night,” he said.
Rise of ‘vibe-driven’ commerce
The shift is also visible across commerce platforms, where search is expanding beyond functional needs into what executives describe as “vibe-driven” discovery.
“People are now searching for things like ‘Monday blues’ or ‘Friday binge parties’,” said Elavia, adding that the company has experimented with mapping emotive and colloquial inputs to product categories.
Higher conversions through AI channels
“Customers coming through large language model (LLM)-based channels show conversion rates that are 2.5 to 3 times higher than traditional platforms,” said Sumesh Surana, Co-President of Digital Business and Marketing at HDFC Ergo. He added that the company has also seen nearly a 14 per cent increase in leads from such channels.
These shifts are contributing to higher order values, as users are increasingly able to differentiate between products and choose premium or specialised options. Elavia noted that while products earlier appeared similar, users are now better able to distinguish between them, driving premiumisation.
Multimodal and vernacular adoption expands reach
The growing adoption of conversational AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini is accelerating this shift. Executives said multimodal search — combining text, voice, images and regional language inputs — is expanding the user base beyond metros.
“People are not only typing, but also uploading images or speaking in their own language. That is opening up a much larger audience,” Surana said, pointing to increased adoption in tier 2 and tier 3 markets. These cities now account for 68 per cent internet penetration and 72 per cent regional language usage online, fuelling AI localisation by platforms.
Shankaranarayanan highlighted the rise of vernacular queries, noting that earlier platforms reached only a limited audience, but now the “canvas is much bigger, because you can talk to so many people across India, with dialects changing every few kilometres.”
Informed users boost platform performance
Executives noted that more informed users are improving overall platform performance, particularly in sectors such as insurance and commerce.
“When users come through these new forms of search, they are already informed. The probability of conversion is obviously higher,” Surana said, adding that such users also tend to purchase add-ons, increasing average order values.
Preparing for agent-led commerce
Platforms are also adapting backend systems to accommodate AI-led search and prepare for agent-led commerce, where AI could execute purchases on behalf of users.
Elavia said: “How do we make purchases happen directly from there, without users needing to come back to our app? That is the endeavour we have been working on over the past few months, and we expect it to bear fruit soon.”
He added that companies are reworking product metadata so that both users and AI systems interpret listings correctly — for example, ensuring that eggs are recognised not just as a product, but also as a source of protein.
A structural shift in digital commerce
The convergence of conversational AI, multimodal interfaces and evolving consumer behaviour is driving a broader shift in digital commerce, with search emerging as a key factor in discovery, conversion and product differentiation.
“This is not just a change in search, it is a change in how people make decisions,” Surana said.
