Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is preparing an overhaul of how local consumers shop online, betting that the next trend will feel more like chatting with an artificial intelligence chatbot rather than typing keywords into a search bar, according to a source.

Users of the company’s flagship AI assistant Qwen – one of the most popular in China – would soon be able to use natural language to “talk” with the chatbot app to find and buy items listed on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall shopping platforms, according to one person familiar with the plan.

Taobao would also get a Qwen-backed AI shopping assistant, the person said, adding that the move was part of Alibaba’s broader initiatives to align its businesses with the group’s call for AI adoption. The person requested anonymity as the information is not public.

The move follows an update earlier this year, when Alibaba unveiled plans to embed Qwen more deeply across its sprawling ecosystem built over decades – spanning e-commerce, food delivery, travel booking and movie ticket purchases.

The integration enables users to complete tasks through simple text or voice commands, reducing the need to navigate multiple apps and repeated clicks, and marks the latest push by the tech giant to turn its AI model into a gateway for daily services.

Analysts said the Qwen and Taobao integration signalled a shift from keyword-based e-commerce searches to “conversational shopping”, where consumers described needs in plain language while AI did the browsing.