Microsoft Edge could soon save you money on online purchases

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Price comparison and coupon sites can help users save a bit of cash when shopping online and now Microsoft is planning to add both of these features to its Edge browser to help it stand out from the crowd.

As reported by BleepingComputer, the software giant's price comparison tool and coupon autofill features are currently a work in progress with only basic functionality enabled at the moment.

The price comparison feature was first discovered in Microsoft Edge's Dev and Canary builds and the tool performs price comparisons on retail product pages added to a Collection. Internally, the tool is named 'MSColllectionsPriceComparison' and once a user adds product pages from specific retail sites, a “Compare prices to other retailers' link appears under a product's price.

If a user clicks on the compare price link, Edge then searches Bing for other matching products and displays their prices. However, in the news outlet's tests, the feature has not yet been enabled and only works with certain retailers including Amazon, BestBuy, Newegg, Walmart and Target.

Coupon autofill

Comparing prices can help shoppers get a better deal on their purchases but so too can coupons, especially when a user doesn't even need to track them down online to use them.

After examining the Canary build of Microsoft Edge, Techdows discovered that the company is in the process of testing out a new feature which will autofill coupons on the checkout pages of online retailers. While the company's new “Show coupons as autofill suggestions” feature is not yet available, Microsoft provides more details on how it will work in the browser's experimental features page, which reads:

“If enabled, Microsoft Edge will show applicable coupons based on the website and the cart information. These coupons will appear as autofill suggestions near the coupon or promotion field during checkout. - Mac, Windows”

If Microsoft's new coupon autofill feature sounds familiar, that is probably because it offers the same functionality as the highly popular Chrome extension Honey. However, the software giant is making it even easier for users to take advantage of online coupons by having this feature built directly into its browser.

For now, Edge's price comparison and coupon autofill features are still in testing but we'll likely hear more once Microsoft is ready to officially add them to its browser.

Via BleepingComputer

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.