OpenAI’s Instant Checkout transforms ChatGPT from a recommendation tool into a virtual shopping destination. By partnering with Etsy and Shopify and leveraging the Agentic Commerce Protocol, users in the U.S. can buy items directly within the chat without leaving the conversation.
Shopping Meets AI: How the new feature works
From recommendations to checkout
OpenAI had already offered a shopping feature within ChatGPT that returned tailored product suggestions, but users still had to click through to merchants’ websites to complete purchases. The new Instant Checkout turns ChatGPT into a storefront. When a customer asks for ideas (“best hiking boots under $150” or “birthday gift for a 10‑year‑old”), ChatGPT responds with curated products. If the merchant has enabled Instant Checkout, a Buy button appears. Clicking it brings up an order form inside the chat where the shopper confirms delivery address and payment details without leaving the conversation.
OpenAI says product suggestions are organic and unsponsored; merchants cannot pay to promote goods. Ranking is based on relevance, availability, price and quality, and whether Instant Checkout is enabled. The company stresses that merchants’ fees do not influence the order of results.
Support for Etsy and Shopify merchants
At launch, Instant Checkout is limited to single‑item purchases from U.S.-based Etsy sellers. OpenAI plans to add multi‑item carts and expand the service to over a million Shopify merchants in the coming months. Brands — including Glossier, Vuori, Spanx and SKIMS — will soon be part of the program. Etsy’s chief product and technology officer Nick Daniel says AI‑powered shopping represents an enormous opportunity for small businesses.
Merchants pay OpenAI a small fee for completed purchases; shoppers pay nothing extra. Stripe collects payment details via a Shared Payment Token and transmits them securely to the seller’s payment processor. Orders flow to the merchant’s backend through the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard developed by OpenAI and Stripe that lets businesses integrate once and work with any compatible AI agent. This design preserves merchants’ control over what they sell while allowing AI agents to act on a shopper’s behalf.
An open‑source commerce standard
Stripe’s announcement explains that ACP provides a shared language for AI agents and commerce systems. A single integration enables a business to sell through multiple AI agents while maintaining its own branding, product catalog and fulfillment processes. ACP is open source under an Apache 2.0 license and can be used with any payment provider.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications, says that co‑developing ACP makes it possible for businesses of all sizes to meet people where they are and for shoppers to complete purchases seamlessly in conversation. Stripe executives see agent‑led commerce as the next evolution of e‑commerce and note that their risk and fraud tools still protect transactions even when payments are handled via third‑party providers.
Why this matters
Monetizing ChatGPT
OpenAI boasts around 700 million weekly users of ChatGPT and currently makes money mainly through subscription fees. Journalists report that the company will charge merchants a small transaction fee and hopes to capture some of the advertising and referral revenue traditionally dominated by search engines. By keeping users inside the chat interface, OpenAI could challenge Google’s ad model, where search results often link out to retailers’ sites. The Associated Press notes that OpenAI has yet to turn a profit, making new revenue streams crucial.
Impact on e‑commerce and retailers
Instant Checkout could reshape how businesses design their websites and reach customers. AI‑driven shopping might eventually shift significant market share away from traditional search advertising. Meanwhile, Shopify views the integration as an opportunity for merchants to reach ChatGPT’s enormous user base. Because product results are ranked by relevance rather than sponsorship, small sellers could compete on equal footing with larger brands.
The new protocol also supports multi‑merchant carts, subscriptions and in‑store pickup options. OpenAI says it will roll out multi‑item support and expand availability beyond the United States once it gathers feedback from the initial launch. With the Agentic Commerce Protocol now open source, other AI platforms could adopt the standard, potentially making agent‑led shopping a common feature across the internet.
What’s next for AI‑powered shopping
OpenAI plans to gradually add more retailers and countries as it refines Instant Checkout. Stripe’s partnership with OpenAI aims to make AI‑led commerce “the norm” by building payment infrastructure that allows agents to shop securely. Over time, merchants will be able to decide whether to fulfill transactions through Stripe or their preferred processor.
As the technology evolves, users may eventually authorize ChatGPT to shop autonomously for recurring or routine purchases. Such agentic shopping raises questions about trust, fraud protection and the balance between convenience and consumer choice. For now, the Instant Checkout launch underscores how quickly conversational AI is moving from answering questions to performing real‑world tasks.
