PayU has launched new agentic commerce rails with GoKwik, enabling consumers to complete payments within chat conversations, as Indian shoppers increasingly rely on AI for purchase decisions and recommendations.
PayU is pitching a new way for merchants to sell inside AI conversations rather than forcing shoppers out of them, arguing that the checkout step itself is becoming a point of failure as consumers increasingly use chatbots to decide what to buy. The company says its new agentic commerce rails, built with GoKwik, are designed for India’s direct-to-consumer market and let customers complete payment without leaving the chat window.
The case for that shift is supported by a growing body of consumer research. A study cited by ET BrandEquity and Kearney found that 83% of Indian AI users rely on AI platforms for shopping decisions, suggesting that discovery and evaluation are moving into chat-based environments. Adobe’s 2026 AI and Digital Trends Report went further, saying 60% of Indian consumers want their own personal AI agents, the highest share in the Asia-Pacific region.
Other recent surveys point in the same direction. ET BrandEquity reported that 79% of Indian shoppers rely on AI-powered recommendations during the festive season, while an EY report, as carried by Indian Retailer, found that 62% of Indian consumers have already made purchases influenced by AI recommendations. That was well above the global average of 30%, underscoring how quickly AI-assisted shopping is becoming mainstream in India.
PayU’s argument is that merchants need to meet that behaviour with payments infrastructure built for a conversational journey, not a traditional website funnel. According to the company, every redirect away from an AI chat creates friction and gives customers a chance to abandon the purchase, while keeping the payment inside the exchange is meant to preserve intent at the moment of highest conversion.
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