Microsoft Edge Shopping Tools: New Features & Updates

Microsoft revealed several enhancements to its Edge browser today, all centered around the online shopping experience. Alongside the expansion of the price comparison functionality introduced last month, Edge is now capable of automatically locating available coupons for shoppers. Furthermore, the company is introducing a dedicated shopping section within its Bing search engine. The timing of these releases is clearly linked to the upcoming holiday shopping period – although, this year, promotional offers resembling those typically seen on Black Friday have been appearing for several weeks.

Image Credits: Microsoft

The value of the price comparison tools is readily apparent. This feature has generally functioned effectively within Edge Collections, although it has occasionally proven frustrating due to its inability to retrieve data for items saved from certain websites. Now, with continuous background price comparison, a new indicator will appear in the address bar, allowing users to access the comparison results. The system will also confirm when the lowest available price has been identified.

Initial testing, specifically within the Edge Canary version, has yielded inconsistent results. The feature appears to operate reliably when shopping on Amazon, provided there is only a single product variation. However, when items are offered in multiple colors, sizes, or other configurations, the price comparison does not consistently activate, which can be somewhat inconvenient.

Image Credits: Microsoft

The coupon functionality also presents some limitations. While it operates with reasonable consistency and gathers information from popular coupon websites (such as RetailMeNot and Slickdeals), it currently only displays site-wide discounts. As most coupons are applicable to a specific selection of products, activating the coupon indicator can often prove unproductive. It is worth noting that the team has incorporated a useful feature that attempts to apply all discovered coupons during the checkout process, potentially saving both time and money. Considering the existing collaboration with the Bing team on other features, this area appears to have potential for further refinement; I have chosen to disable this feature.

Microsoft is also leveraging today’s announcement to launch a new URL shortening tool within Edge. “When you paste a link copied from the address bar, it will automatically transform from a lengthy, complex URL into a concise hyperlink displaying the website title. If you require the complete URL, you can revert to plain text using the context menu,” Microsoft states. This addition may be beneficial in certain situations. However, I typically prefer to use the original link directly, without any intermediary service, and hope there is an option to disable this functionality.