ChatGPT incorporates an integrated shopping function that allows you to purchase products without leaving the conversation, in line with other AI integrations like Gemini. With the arrival of Instant Checkout, the assistant makes the leap from recommending to facilitating payment directly from the chat.
The novelty debuts in United States for ChatGPT users on their free, Plus and Pro plans, with Etsy as first partner and Shopify on the horizon, and shares challenges with the Payment settings on WhatsApp BusinessThe results that appear when requesting recommendations are organic, not sponsored, and now, when an item is a match, the purchase can be completed with just a few taps within the chat itself.
What is Instant Payment and how does it work?
When the user asks a purchasing question—for example, gift ideas or sneakers within a specific budget—the chatbot displays relevant options. If one of those products supports Instant Payment, the option appears. buy button; then the shipment and payment are confirmed, and the transaction is completed without leaving ChatGPT.
In this flow, The merchant manages orders, collections and shipments from your systems as usual. ChatGPT acts as an agent that transmits the necessary information, relying on Stripe for processing and allowing the use of the card already registered by subscribers, in addition to other accepted methods and comparing with platforms such as WeChat.
To scale the experience, OpenAI has created the Agentic Trade Protocol, an open standard that enables stores and developers to integrate shoppable products into chat. The company says the protocol, developed with Stripe and released as open source, is intended to be secure, powerful and easy to adopt.
Availability, stores and economic conditions
The feature is initially available in the US and allows you to purchase a single item per transactionOpenAI announces it will incorporate the multi-product cart and expand the rollout to more regions and merchants as the infrastructure and integrations mature.
For the end user, there is no additional cost: Prices do not vary and the service is free. Sellers, however, pay OpenAI a fee. transaction fee when the purchase is completed within the chat; the specific amounts have not been made public.
OpenAI argues that product listings they do not prioritize Those that support Instant Payment. When sorting results with multiple sellers for the same item, the system takes into account factors such as availability, price, quality, if the seller is a main distributor and if integrated payment is activated, with the aim of improving the experience.
Privacy and security of the process
The company emphasizes that the purchasing flow has been designed with encrypted tokens or with a minimal data exchange, and remember measures to Avoid Bizum scams. The user remains in control at all times, as he must confirm explicitly each step before taking any purchase action.
In addition, payment authorizations are limited to amounts and specific businesses, reducing the exposure of sensitive data. Although chatbots can make mistakes, the process here is more limited: the catalog is defined by the merchants, and the purchase requires clear user confirmation at each stage. Threats such as banking trojans.
Impact on the market and the e-commerce ecosystem
The announcement was well received by investors: in the launch day, Etsy advanced over 16% and Shopify surpassed 6% on the stock market. For OpenAI, the initiative opens a new source of income complementary to subscriptions and business agreements, in a context of strong investment in R&D and infrastructure.
In competitive terms, integrating shopping into the conversation can divert some product searches from Google or the dominant marketplaces such as Amazon towards attendee experiences. For brands, it represents an additional sales channel with less friction, but also the challenge of preserve the direct relationship with the customer when the transaction occurs within a third party.
What users and merchants can expect
For people, the most obvious benefit is save stepsDiscover, choose, and pay in the same thread, without opening tabs or re-entering data. Searches like "phones under a certain price" or "sports equipment" will return relevant options and, if applicable, the option to purchase on the go.
For merchants, the Agentic Trade Protocol facilitates the Integration with multiple platforms and processors. Today, the purchase is for a single product and is geographically limited, but they will arrive multi-item cart and international expansion, along with regulatory compliance requirements and greater clarity on fees.
With this update, ChatGPT takes another step towards an assistant that not only recommends, but carries out actions in a safe and controlled manner. Public reception, the quality of recommendations, and merchant adoption will determine the extent to which this form of chat shopping becomes a habit.
