Shopping online just took a radical turn. OpenAI rolled out its new Instant Checkout feature on September 28, allowing U.S. ChatGPT users to purchase products directly within the chat interface without ever clicking away to another site. This isn't just another convenience upgrade—it's a strategic move toward "agentic commerce," where AI doesn't simply recommend products but actively completes transactions on behalf of users.

The Power of Frictionless Commerce

With over 700 million people using ChatGPT weekly, OpenAI is tapping into a massive market eager for streamlined experiences. The Instant Checkout system allows users to ask conversational questions like "What's the best gift for a ceramics enthusiast?" and receive curated product recommendations with a simple "Buy" button. Users can complete purchases, confirm shipping details, and process payments using Stripe's newly developed Agentic Commerce Protocol—all within the chat. Currently available for Etsy sellers, the feature will soon expand to over a million Shopify merchants, including popular brands like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori.

"ChatGPT simply acts as the user's AI agent—securely passing information between user and merchant, just like a digital personal shopper would," OpenAI stated in its announcement. The company emphasizes that product results remain "organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user," ensuring recommendations aren't influenced by merchant fees. This transparency could be a major differentiator as consumers grow increasingly skeptical of algorithm-driven shopping experiences.

A Direct Challenge to Google and Amazon

OpenAI's move directly threatens traditional e-commerce giants and search advertising models. Google generates the majority of its revenue by referring users to merchant websites, but Instant Checkout eliminates the need for that referral step entirely. Fortune reports that this shift "could eventually steal significant market share from traditional Google search advertising" as conversational AI replaces keyword-driven searches.

For merchants, the opportunity is compelling: access to hundreds of millions of potential customers without overhauling existing payment systems or customer relationship infrastructure. Businesses using Stripe can enable agentic payments with as little as one line of code, while those using other processors can integrate through Stripe's Shared Payment Token API. OpenAI takes a small fee per transaction, creating a new revenue stream that could offset its billions in operational costs.

What Comes Next

While users currently approve each purchase manually, the technology is clearly building toward fully autonomous shopping agents that can make buying decisions independently based on user preferences and budgets. This evolution could fundamentally reshape how businesses approach digital marketing, moving away from SEO optimization and paid ads toward AI-native commerce strategies.

As shopping becomes increasingly conversational and personalized, the brands that win will be those that understand how to collaborate with AI agents rather than compete against them. OpenAI's Instant Checkout isn't just changing where we shop—it's redefining the entire relationship between consumers, technology, and commerce.