United States — OpenAI has introduced ‘Instant Checkout’, a new feature that allows users to purchase products directly through ChatGPT. The rollout begins with Etsy sellers in the United States, with over a million Shopify merchants, including brands such as Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori, expected to follow soon.
Currently, Instant Checkout supports single-item purchases, with multi-item carts and regional expansion planned in the future.
The system is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which was co-developed with Stripe and described by OpenAI as ‘an open standard for AI commerce that lets AI agents, people, and businesses work together to complete purchases.’
Additionally, the company said it has made the technology open source to allow merchants and developers to create their own integrations.
OpenAI shared that this marks the next step in agentic commerce, where ChatGPT is not limited to just providing suggestions on what to buy; hence, it helps with buying the actual item.
“For shoppers, it’s seamless: go from chat to checkout in just a few taps. For sellers, it’s a new way to reach hundreds of millions of people while keeping full control of their payments, systems, and customer relationships,” OpenAI stated.
Generally, users can ask product-related questions for ChatGPT to provide organic results. This is then ranked for relevance rather than sponsorship. In Instant Checkout’s case, shoppers can now complete purchases directly in chat by confirming order, shipping, and payment details. Payment processing, order fulfilment, and customer support remain the responsibility of the merchant.
According to OpenAI, merchants pay a small fee on completed purchases, but the service is free for users and does not influence product rankings.
Additionally, the Agentic Commerce Protocol underpins the process by standardising communication between AI agents and businesses. Merchants can use their existing payment processors and systems, with additional support for those using Stripe through a “Shared Payment Token API” or the Delegated Payments Specification.
OpenAI said the update represents an expansion of its role in online shopping, moving from product discovery to direct transaction facilitation. Recently, the company has also previewed ChatGPT Pulse for its pro users, a feature designed to provide personalised daily updates by conducting proactive research based on a user’s chats, feedback, and connected applications, such as Google Calendar.
