ChatGPT Introduces Instant Checkout

What OpenAI Announced

With Instant Checkout, shoppers can now compare products, see price and availability, and hit Buy without leaving ChatGPT. Payment and shipping are handled in-house, so the entire transaction happens inside the chat. Right now it’s limited to Etsy and Shopify sellers, but it’s the first real glimpse of an AI-native commerce flow: prompt to purchase without ever touching your site. We expect this to spread beyond Etsy + Shopify to any e-commerce site that opts-in within 6 months, followed by complete agentic shopping across any online store (opted-In or not) within 12 months.

Who’s Next

OpenAI won’t be alone for long. Google Gemini and Perplexity are both moving toward agent-style shopping, and it’s almost certain Google will weave checkout directly into AI Overviews to defend its search turf. Within a year, “instant buy” won’t just be a ChatGPT feature, it’ll be the default buying flow for all e-commerce.

What This Means for E-commerce

• You can’t buy your way in. OpenAI isn’t selling ad slots, and product placement isn’t driven by partnerships.

• Your website no longer matters at the moment of decision. Shoppers won’t see your homepage, your cookies, or your SEO tweaks. They’ll see AI snippets comparing specs, price, and availability.

• The funnel collapses. The journey is no longer ad → click → browse → cart. It’s prompt → purchase.

If your products don’t surface in the AI-generated previews, then you won’t even be considered.

The New Priority: AI Selling Strategy

Winning in this new landscape requires:

• Structured product data that AIs can read, cite, and compare.

• Clear differentiators—specs, guarantees, reviews, availability—packaged in machine-friendly formats.

• Distribution-first thinking, where your job is ensuring your SKUs appear in the AI shopping surface.