OpenAI has launched Instant Checkout, a feature that lets people buy products directly within ChatGPT, starting with US Etsy sellers and with Shopify merchants to follow.
The company said the system is powered by its Agentic Commerce Protocol, co‑developed with Stripe, and will initially support single‑item purchases before expanding to multi‑item carts and more regions.
“US ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and free users can now buy directly from American Etsy sellers right in chat, with over a million Shopify merchants, like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori, coming soon,” OpenAI said in a blog post link. OpenAI added that product results shown in ChatGPT are organic and unsponsored, ranked for relevance, and that the framework is being open‑sourced to speed integrations for merchants and developers.
Michelle Fradin, OpenAI’s product lead for ChatGPT commerce, said the aim is to move beyond information retrieval. “Our vision for ChatGPT … is that it’s not just providing you information, it is also helping you get things done in the real world,” she told CNBC. Fradin noted that subscribers can pay using cards already on file in ChatGPT, and suggested the protocol could extend to other kinds of payments over time..
In parallel, Stripe said it is working with OpenAI to enable these purchases, describing the tie‑up as laying economic infrastructure for AI. “Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI… We’re proud to power Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and co‑develop the Agentic Commerce Protocol,” said Will Gaybrick, Stripe’s president for technology and business, in a statement.
OpenAI said merchants will pay a small fee on completed purchases, while users are not charged and prices are unaffected. Reuters reported that Instant Checkout opens a new revenue stream for OpenAI beyond subscriptions and that the company will add multi‑item carts and expand coverage next. Shopify highlighted the experience on its website, saying: “Shopify merchants will be able to sell directly through ChatGPT conversations — no links or no redirects, just seamless commerce”.
Market reaction was swift. Etsy shares rose 7.3 per cent on the day according to Reuters, while US‑listed Shopify climbed 4.5 per cent. CNBC later reported Etsy closed up nearly 16 per cent and Shopify more than 6 per cent.
OpenAI emphasised safeguards around trust, saying users explicitly confirm steps, payment tokens are scoped to specific amounts and merchants, and only minimal data needed to fulfil orders is shared.
