ChatGPT has entered the ecommerce space. OpenAI’s new Instant Checkout feature allows users in the United States to discover and buy products directly within the chat interface. This marks the beginning of what OpenAI calls agentic commerce, a new approach where AI agents move beyond recommendations to enable transactions.

For marketers and ecommerce leaders, this represents more than a feature launch. It could redefine how customers discover and purchase products, and where brands invest for growth in the coming years.

What Has Launched

OpenAI has introduced Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT for Free, Plus, and Pro users in the United States. Shoppers can now browse and purchase products in-chat without needing to click out to external sites. At launch, users can buy from Etsy sellers, with support for over one million Shopify merchants arriving soon.

The feature is built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol, or ACP, developed by OpenAI in partnership with Stripe. ACP enables AI agents, merchants, and payment systems to work together securely to complete transactions.

Initially, Instant Checkout supports single-item purchases. Multi-item carts and expansion to other regions are planned.

How It Works

The shopping experience begins with a plain language query. A user might ask, “best yoga mats under $100” or “gifts for a ceramics lover.” ChatGPT returns a curated list of relevant product recommendations. Results are organic, not sponsored, and ranked by relevance rather than commercial placement or whether Instant Checkout is available.

If a product does support Instant Checkout, the user can select “Buy,” confirm shipping and payment details, and complete the purchase without leaving the chat. ChatGPT passes order data securely to the merchant, who handles fulfilment through their existing systems. Users pay nothing extra for this convenience, and merchants pay only a small transaction fee.

Importantly, merchants retain control over fulfilment, customer support, and their data. ChatGPT simply acts as a trusted intermediary, facilitating the exchange securely and efficiently.

A Behaviour Shift Already Underway

ChatGPT is already a key touchpoint in the discovery journey for hundreds of millions of users. More than 800 million people turn to the platform every week for help with decisions — from writing and research to, increasingly, product recommendations. And this behaviour is only going to become more common.

Some analysts expect ChatGPT and related OpenAI tools to reach 1 billion users by the end of 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing digital tools in history. While long-term growth may stabilise, usage is still forecast to rise steadily over the next three to five years. If adoption continues across voice, embedded systems, enterprise tools and other interfaces, global usage could hit between 1.5 and 3 billion users by 2030.

For ecommerce brands, this raises a simple question: if consumers are discovering products inside AI conversations, are your products part of the conversation?

Why It Matters

This shift compresses the traditional marketing funnel. Discovery, consideration, and purchase can now happen within a single interface, guided by an AI that understands user intent and context.

It also challenges the current model of paid search, performance media, and conversion-focused landing pages. If users trust ChatGPT to suggest and transact, brands will need to rethink how they show up in these environments. Product data, content strategy, and even CRM systems may all need to adapt.

Unlike marketplaces or ad platforms, ChatGPT does not allow sponsored placements. Product visibility is driven entirely by relevance and quality, not budget. This levels the playing field, but also means that surfacing in AI results may require different optimisation strategies than those used on Google or Meta.

Built for Scale and Trust

The underlying technology, the Agentic Commerce Protocol, was designed to support scale without adding complexity. Merchants using Stripe can connect with minimal changes. Those using other processors can participate by adopting Stripe’s Shared Payment Token API or ACP’s Delegated Payments Spec, all without overhauling backend systems.

User trust is built into the experience. Actions are explicitly confirmed by users at each step. Payment details are encrypted, scoped to a specific transaction, and not stored by ChatGPT. Only essential order information is passed to merchants, with user consent.

OpenAI has open-sourced the ACP to encourage broader adoption, making it easier for developers and ecommerce platforms to build their own agentic integrations.

Shopify and the Next Wave of AI Commerce

Shopify has played a central role in this rollout. Its merchants will soon be able to sell directly inside ChatGPT, with real-time access to product data, inventory, and pricing. Orders will integrate into the Shopify admin like any other sale, with full attribution and reporting.

This unlocks a new channel for Shopify’s network of brands — from independent makers to established names like Glossier, Spanx and Vuori. As Vanessa Lee, VP of Product at Shopify, noted, shoppers are no longer waiting for ads or search results. They are discovering products during conversations, and merchants now have a way to be part of those moments.

By maintaining merchant control, brand identity and direct customer relationships, Shopify ensures its sellers benefit from AI-driven commerce without losing what makes their business unique.

How Google Compares

It is worth noting that Google is also evolving search through AI, including its Gemini-powered AI Overviews and the under-development Project Mariner. However, Google’s model continues to stop at the point of discovery. Users are guided to links and still need to complete purchases elsewhere.

OpenAI is going further. It is not just helping users decide what to buy, it is facilitating the purchase itself. The result is a closed-loop journey, one that feels natural and immediate to the user, and significantly more measurable for marketers.