CBA-backed Little Birdie, an e-commerce fintech, has launched a new browser extension capable of searching and tracking prices for millions of products online. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia invested $30 million into Little Birdie in 2021, allowing the fintech to integrate selected shopping content into the bank’s app and gain access to over 6.5 million Commonwealth Bank app users for its retail and brand partners.
The new browser extension enables users to run Little Birdie on iPhones via the Safari browser and on desktops through the Chrome browser. As users browse products, the extension displays pricing for the same product by other retailers without leaving the store’s product page. It also provides a price history graph for items.
Little Birdie CEO Jon Beros highlighted the lack of an unbiased comparison view for consumers in the world of retail, with prices changing multiple times a day. He emphasized the importance of refining the extension’s ability to identify products and provide context-aware recommendations based on users’ current browsing activity. Little Birdie processes vast amounts of data from numerous retailers, much of it unstructured, to train its AI and machine learning models effectively.
Beros emphasized that all retailers have been facing challenges and that Little Birdie aims to level the playing field and connect consumers with retailers in an unbiased manner.
Looking to the future, the fintech plans to expand across Australia and internationally. With ambitious growth plans, Little Birdie seeks to become a reliable intermediary that empowers consumers while supporting retailers in the competitive market.
