Etsy and Shopify Join OpenAI’s ChatGPT Shopping Rollout

AI systems are stepping up once again, with OpenAI rolling out a new checkout feature inside ChatGPT, allowing users to make purchases directly within the chat experience.

The capability, branded Instant Checkout, will debut first in the US across ChatGPT’s Plus, Pro and free plans.

Inside Instant Checkout

Through partnerships with Etsy and Shopify, OpenAI’s system will first feature products from Etsy, before broadening its reach to more than one million merchants on Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce platform.

Brands such as cosmetics company Glossier, shapewear maker SKIMS and activewear label Vuori are also set to come on board.

When a user asks a shopping-related question, ChatGPT highlights products ranked by relevance.

If an item is available through Instant Checkout, users can simply tap buy, confirm their details and finalise the purchase within the chat itself.

According to OpenAI, some 700 million people now use ChatGPT each week for tasks ranging from product searches to discovery.

“Orders, payments and fulfilment are handled by the merchant using their existing systems,” OpenAI says.

“ChatGPT simply acts as the user’s AI agent – securely passing information between user and merchant, just like a digital personal shopper would.”

The role of Stripe in OpenAI’s open-sources Agentic Commerce Protocol 

OpenAI built the underlying technology in collaboration with payments processor Stripe, and has made the system available as open-source software.

The Agentic Commerce Protocol sets out a technical framework for how AI systems can enable transactions between users and businesses, while ensuring merchants retain control over customer relationships and payment processing.

Designed to work across multiple payment processors and business models, the protocol creates interoperability at scale.

When a user makes a purchase through ChatGPT, order details are passed to the merchant’s backend system via the protocol.

The merchant then decides whether to accept or reject the order, processes the payment through its existing provider, and fulfils the order using current systems.

For merchants already integrated with Stripe, the system can be activated using just one line of code.

Those relying on other processors can participate via Stripe’s Shared Payment Token API, or by implementing the Delegated Payments Spec within the protocol.

“Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI,” says Will Gaybrick, President of Technology and Business at Stripe.

“That means re-architecting today’s commerce systems and creating new AI-powered experiences for billions of people.”

Merchants are charged a fee only on completed purchases, while the service itself is free for users and does not alter product pricing.

When a shopper asks a question such as “best running shoes under US$100” or “gifts for a ceramics lover,” ChatGPT surfaces the most relevant products from across the web.

According to OpenAI, the availability of Instant Checkout does not affect product rankings, which remain “organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user”.

Future plans for Instant Checkout

The current version supports purchases of individual items. 

Looking ahead, OpenAI plans to add shopping cart functionality for multi-item purchases, while also widening merchant participation and expanding availability to more regions.

The company has already released technical documentation and opened applications for merchants seeking to list their products through the system.

For users, every step requires explicit confirmation before any action takes place.

Payment tokens are encrypted and authorised only for designated amounts and specific merchants with user approval, while data sharing is restricted to the minimum required to complete an order.

Will says Stripe is “proud to power Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and co-develop the Agentic Commerce Protocol to help businesses and AI platforms build the future of commerce”.