ChatGPT Shopping

ChatGPT Shopping is OpenAI's built-in commerce feature that lets consumers search for products, compare options, and purchase directly inside ChatGPT conversations without visiting external websites.

ChatGPT Shopping launched in late 2024 as a product search feature and expanded significantly through 2025, with early merchant integrations (including Etsy) beginning in late 2025 and a 4% transaction fee introduced in January 2026. OpenAI branded the experience "Buy it in ChatGPT" -- Instant Checkout -- and expanded it to all U.S. users across Free, Plus, and Pro tiers in February 2026. Consumers can now complete purchases entirely within the chat interface using stored payment credentials, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) and Stripe's payment infrastructure (OpenAI, 2026).

ChatGPT processes approximately 50 million shopping queries daily. With 800 million weekly active users globally, it has become one of the largest product discovery platforms in the world. According to a Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey (Nov 2025), 45% of U.S. consumers had used ChatGPT in the prior month, and 36% of ChatGPT users had made a purchase based on an AI recommendation.

ChatGPT Shopping represents a fundamentally new sales channel. Unlike Google, where consumers see a list of links and choose where to click, ChatGPT recommends specific products with explanations. The AI agent acts as a personal shopper, and the products it recommends get purchased at significantly higher rates than traditional search results.

Adobe Analytics data shows AI-referred visitors (primarily from ChatGPT and similar platforms) have a 38% higher purchase completion rate compared to traditional search visitors (Adobe, Black Friday 2025).

The traffic growth is exponential. AI-driven traffic to retail sites surged 805% year-over-year during Black Friday 2025 (Adobe Analytics). Shopify reported 7x AI traffic and 11x AI orders since January 2025. One retailer in Paz.ai's network, Guess, measured 8,000% year-over-year growth in AI-referred traffic, though from a small base of 43,000 AI sessions in Europe.

For merchants, Instant Checkout comes with a 4% transaction fee charged by OpenAI. Crucially, OpenAI states that "Instant Checkout items are not preferred in product results" -- meaning the feature does not create a pay-to-play dynamic for visibility. Product recommendations are based on relevance, not payment status (OpenAI, Feb 2026).

Product Search (All Users)

When a consumer asks ChatGPT for product recommendations (e.g., "best wireless headphones under $100"), ChatGPT searches its product index and returns visual product cards with images, prices, ratings, and "Visit" buttons that link to merchant websites. This basic product search is available to all ChatGPT users and does not require merchant integration beyond having products in ChatGPT's index.

Instant Checkout (ACP-Enabled Merchants)

For merchants who support the Agentic Commerce Protocol, ChatGPT displays a "Buy" button instead of (or alongside) a "Visit" button. Consumers can complete the entire purchase inside ChatGPT:

1. Select the product, size, color, and other variants
2. ChatGPT pre-fills shipping and payment details (for Plus/Pro users)
3. Consumer reviews the order and confirms
4. Payment processes through Stripe
5. Order confirmation appears in the chat

The consumer never leaves ChatGPT. Payment information is handled by Stripe and passed directly to the merchant -- ChatGPT and OpenAI do not store or access card details.

ChatGPT Apps (Custom Experiences)

Beyond standard search and Instant Checkout, merchants can build branded ChatGPT Apps using MCP. These provide a fully custom shopping experience inside ChatGPT with the merchant's branding, full catalog access, loyalty program integration, and personalized recommendations.

As of February 2026, Instant Checkout is live with:

• Etsy -- All sellers (first major marketplace to enable full ACP)
• Walmart -- Announced partnership, rollout in progress
• Target -- Announced partnership, rollout in progress
• 1M+ Shopify merchants -- Auto-enrolled through Shopify's ACP integration
• SKIMS, Glossier, Spanx, Vuori -- Direct-to-consumer fashion and beauty
• URBN (Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters) -- Via Stripe Agentic Commerce Suite

ChatGPT Apps include Instacart (grocery), DoorDash (food delivery and grocery), and a growing number of brand-specific experiences.

• ChatGPT Shopping processes 50 million shopping queries daily with 800 million weekly active users
• Instant Checkout, built on early shopping integrations from late 2025, is now available for all U.S. users
• OpenAI charges merchants 4% on Instant Checkout transactions
• AI-referred visitors convert 38% better than traditional search visitors (Adobe, Black Friday 2025)
• Product recommendations are relevance-based, not influenced by Instant Checkout enrollment