OpenAI has launched a new “Instant Checkout” feature that enables ChatGPT users to purchase products from Etsy and Shopify directly within conversations, positioning the AI company as a potential challenger to e-commerce giants Amazon and Google. The move represents a significant step toward AI-powered shopping agents that could reshape how consumers discover and buy products online, potentially shifting power away from traditional search and marketplace platforms.
The New Shopping Experience
OpenAI’s Instant Checkout feature transforms ChatGPT from a conversational assistant into a purchasing platform. Available to all logged-in ChatGPT users in the U.S., the system allows seamless purchases from U.S.-based Etsy sellers, with over 1 million Shopify merchants including major brands like Glossier, Skims, Spanx, and Vuori scheduled to join soon. The feature builds on ChatGPT’s existing shopping capabilities that previously showed product recommendations, images, reviews, and prices but required users to visit merchant websites to complete purchases.
Now users can simply tap “Buy” to confirm orders using saved shipping and payment information. The system supports multiple payment options including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, and credit cards. According to OpenAI’s official announcement, this creates a frictionless experience where users can move from asking questions like “what should I get my friend who loves ceramics?” to completing purchases without leaving the conversation. The company emphasizes that orders, payments, and fulfillment remain handled by merchants using their existing systems, with ChatGPT acting as an intermediary that securely passes information between users and sellers.
Shifting E-commerce Power Dynamics
This development threatens to disrupt the long-standing dominance of Google and Amazon in online retail discovery. Both companies have historically controlled product visibility through search algorithms and marketplace placements, often favoring their own products or charging significant fees for prominent positioning. A JPMorgan e-commerce report indicates that Amazon and Google collectively capture over 60% of U.S. product search volume, giving them substantial influence over consumer purchasing decisions.
OpenAI claims its product results are “organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user,” according to their blog post. The company will charge merchants a “small fee” for completed purchases but hasn’t disclosed specific rates. This approach contrasts with Amazon’s referral fees, which typically range from 8-15% for most categories, and Google’s shopping ads that can cost merchants significant amounts for visibility. If AI chatbots become primary shopping interfaces, the companies behind them could gain substantial control over product discovery and commission structures.
The Emerging AI Commerce Ecosystem
OpenAI is positioning itself as a foundational player in the emerging AI commerce landscape through its decision to open-source the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), the technology powering Instant Checkout that was developed in partnership with Stripe. This strategic move could establish OpenAI as the de facto architect of AI-powered shopping infrastructure, similar to how Android became the dominant mobile operating system through open-source adoption.
Stripe President of Technology and Business Will Gaybrick stated in the company’s announcement that “Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI. That means re-architecting today’s commerce systems and creating new AI-powered experiences for billions of people.” The protocol enables other merchants and developers to integrate agentic checkout capabilities, potentially accelerating adoption across the e-commerce ecosystem. However, this puts OpenAI in direct competition with Google, which recently launched its own Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) for AI-initiated purchases.
Industry Implications and Future Outlook
The introduction of AI-powered shopping agents represents a fundamental shift in online commerce dynamics. According to McKinsey’s e-commerce analysis, conversational commerce could capture 10-15% of online sales by 2027 as consumers increasingly prefer personalized, assisted shopping experiences. This trend moves beyond traditional search-based discovery toward AI-curated recommendations and frictionless checkout processes.
Other players are already entering this space. Perplexity introduced similar in-chat shopping features last year, while Microsoft offers merchants in-chat storefront capabilities through its Copilot Merchant Program. The Digital Commerce 360 industry report suggests that AI shopping assistants could particularly benefit niche and specialty retailers by providing more personalized product discovery than algorithm-driven marketplaces. However, concerns remain about data privacy and the concentration of power among a few AI providers, potentially creating new gatekeepers in the e-commerce ecosystem.
The rapid evolution of AI commerce signals a broader transformation in how consumers will shop online. As OpenAI, Google, and other tech giants compete to establish their protocols as industry standards, merchants and consumers alike stand to benefit from more intuitive shopping experiences. Yet the ultimate winners will be determined by which companies can balance innovation with trust, transparency, and fair access to the digital marketplace.
