ChatGPT just killed the shopping cart.
OpenAI's new Instant Checkout feature transforms every conversation into a potential transaction. Users can now discover, evaluate, and purchase products without ever leaving the chat interface.
The numbers tell the story. ChatGPT's 700 million weekly users creates an unprecedented commerce gateway. That's more traffic than most e-commerce platforms see in a year.
Markets responded immediately. Etsy's stock surged 16% following the announcement, with analysts estimating the partnership could generate $100 million in gross merchandise value.
But the real disruption runs deeper than convenience.
The New Commerce Layer
OpenAI positioned itself as a new type of intermediary. They're not replacing Amazon or Google. They're creating an entirely different commerce layer that sits between intention and action.
Think about the traditional shopping journey. You search, browse, compare, then buy. Each step involves friction, multiple platforms, and decision fatigue.
Conversational commerce collapses that entire funnel into a single interaction.
The technical architecture matters here. OpenAI built this on the Agentic Commerce Protocol, an open-source standard they developed with Stripe. The protocol creates a shared language between businesses and AI agents while preserving existing merchant relationships.
This strategic move prevents platform lock-in while establishing OpenAI as the de facto standard for AI commerce integration.
The Merchant Dilemma
For merchants, the calculation becomes complex. Yes, they maintain their merchant-of-record status and existing payment processing. But they're now paying commission to yet another intermediary in an already crowded value chain.
The early partner list reveals the strategy. Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, Vuori, and Steve Madden represent premium brands that prioritize customer experience over margin optimization. These companies can absorb additional fees in exchange for access to ChatGPT's massive user base.
But what about smaller merchants already struggling with platform fees from Amazon, Shopify, payment processors, and advertising networks?
The integration requirements tell another story. For Stripe customers, enabling agentic payments requires as little as one line of code. For everyone else, participation means either switching to Stripe or implementing additional API layers.
This creates a subtle but powerful moat around Stripe's payment infrastructure.
Platform Wars Begin
The competitive implications extend far beyond e-commerce. Google's search advertising business faces a fundamental threat when users can complete purchase decisions without ever visiting a search results page. Amazon's product discovery advantage erodes when AI agents can surface relevant products from any connected merchant.
The current implementation feels deliberately limited. Single-item purchases only, explicit user confirmation at each step, U.S. merchants and customers exclusively. These constraints suggest OpenAI is testing merchant adoption and user behavior before scaling globally.
But the foundation is now in place for something much larger.
I see three critical developments ahead. First, multi-item cart functionality will enable complex purchase decisions within conversations. Second, international expansion will pressure local e-commerce platforms to integrate or risk obsolescence. Third, the open-source protocol will spawn competing AI commerce platforms, fragmenting the market while accelerating adoption.
Strategic Response
The winners will be merchants who integrate early and optimize their product data for AI discovery. The losers will be platforms that depend on controlling the purchase journey from search to checkout.
For business leaders, the strategic question becomes clear. Do you build AI commerce capabilities internally, partner with existing platforms, or risk being bypassed entirely?
The shopping cart just became optional. Your response strategy shouldn't be.
