ChatGPT can now sell you things.
OpenAI just launched Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, turning the AI assistant into a digital shopping companion. You can now discover products, ask questions about them, and complete purchases without ever leaving the conversation.
This isn’t just ChatGPT recommending products anymore. It’s actually processing your payment.
What Instant Checkout does#
Think of it as having a personal shopper who can also ring you up:
- Chat naturally about what you’re looking for
- Get recommendations based on your conversation
- Ask questions about products, sellers, reviews, shipping
- Buy immediately with saved payment info via Stripe
- Track everything in your ChatGPT conversation history
The whole flow happens inside ChatGPT. No tab switching, no cart abandonment, no “let me go find that link again.”
What you can buy right now#
U.S. users only at launch, starting with:
Etsy sellers#
Browse and buy from Etsy’s marketplace of handmade and vintage items. ChatGPT can help you find specific products, compare options, and check seller ratings.
Shopify merchants (coming soon)#
Over a million Shopify stores will be integrated in the near future. That covers a huge range of products from independent businesses.
The Agentic Commerce Protocol#
Here’s where it gets interesting technically.
OpenAI built this with Stripe on something they’re calling the Agentic Commerce Protocol. And they open-sourced it.
What that means:
- Standard interface for AI-powered shopping across platforms
- Open for anyone to implement and integrate
- Not just ChatGPT — other AI assistants can use the same protocol
- Merchant control — sellers decide how their products appear in AI conversations
This isn’t just ChatGPT adding a feature. It’s OpenAI creating infrastructure for AI commerce broadly.
How the experience works#
Based on OpenAI’s announcement, here’s the flow:
- Natural conversation: “I need a birthday gift for my sister who likes pottery”
- AI searches and curates: ChatGPT pulls relevant products from connected merchants
- Interactive Q&A: Ask about materials, sizing, shipping, return policies
- One-click purchase: Payment via Stripe, using your saved payment method
- Order tracking: Everything lives in your ChatGPT history
The AI can compare options, filter by price range, check availability, and explain differences between products. All in natural language.
Why this matters#
This is OpenAI betting that conversational commerce is the next evolution of online shopping:
For users#
- Less friction: Discovery and purchase happen in one place
- Better context: AI remembers what you’re looking for across the conversation
- Simpler decisions: Get help comparing and choosing without opening 20 tabs
For merchants#
- New discovery channel: Reach customers through AI recommendations, not just search ads
- Contextual selling: Your products show up when relevant to the conversation
- Lower barriers: Customers don’t need to navigate your site to buy
For the ecosystem#
- Open protocol: Other platforms can adopt the same approach
- Standardization: One way for merchants to make products available to AI assistants
- Competitive pressure: Other AI companies will need to respond
The challenging questions#
Do we want AI in charge of our purchases? There’s a big difference between AI helping you find products and AI being the storefront. Who decides which products get recommended?
How do recommendation algorithms work? Is ChatGPT showing you the best match for your needs, the products with highest margins, or the merchants who pay for placement?
What happens to independent discovery? When AI curates what you see, do you lose the serendipity of browsing and finding unexpected things?
Who benefits most? Is this about making shopping better for users, or about OpenAI becoming a layer between customers and merchants?
Can you trust AI product advice? ChatGPT doesn’t use the products. It’s working from descriptions, reviews, and data. That’s useful, but it’s not experience.
Privacy and data#
OpenAI hasn’t detailed the full privacy model yet, but based on the announcement:
- Payments via Stripe: Your payment info goes through Stripe’s infrastructure, not OpenAI
- Purchase history: Your orders become part of your ChatGPT conversation history
- Merchant data: Questions about how purchase behavior gets used for training or recommendations
Expect more details as the rollout expands.
What comes next#
This is just the start. Expect:
- More merchants: Shopify integration is just the beginning
- More regions: U.S.-only launch will expand internationally
- More AI shopping: Other assistants will add similar features
- More protocol adoption: The open-source nature means wider implementation
The bigger question: Is this the future of online shopping, or is it AI overreach into another part of our lives?
The technology works. Whether we want shopping to happen this way is a different question.
Learn more: Read OpenAI’s full announcement about Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol.