- New code reveals ChatGPT may soon support in-chat purchases via Shopify
- The chat would offer prices, reviews, and embedded checkout through the AI
- The feature could give Shopify merchants access to ChatGPT’s users while making OpenAI an e-commerce platform
When you ask ChatGPT what sneakers are best for trail running, you get an overview of top examples and links to review sites and product catalogs, Soon, though, ChatGPT might just offer to let you buy your choice from among a range of Shopify merchants directly in the chat, according to unreleased code discovered by Testing Catalog.
Rather than clicking through to different websites, Shopify would populate ChatGPT with the suggested products, complete with price, reviews, shipping details, and, most importantly, a “Buy Now” button.
Clicking it won’t send you away from ChatGPT either. You’ll just purchase those shoes through ChatGPT, which will be the storefront itself.
At least, that’s what the uncovered bits of code describe. The direct integration of Shopify into ChatGPT’s interface would make the AI assistant a retail clerk as well as a review compiler. The fact that some of the code is actually live, if hidden, suggests the rollout is coming sooner than you might expect.
For Shopify’s millions of merchants, this could be a huge boon. Right now, most small sellers have to hustle for traffic, investing in SEO, ads, or pleading with mysterious social media algorithms to go viral. However, ChatGPT could make its products appear directly in front of the AI chatbot‘s more than 800 million users.
And it might lead to more actual sales. After all, it’s one thing to stumble upon a jacket on Instagram and follow a link to a site requiring you to find the jacket again and fill in payment details. It’s a lot easier to purchase something when you see it appear amid recommendations from ChatGPT, with a buy button there for you to click on without any intermediate steps.
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Of course, OpenAI isn’t doing this in a vacuum. The idea that AI can guide you not just to information, but through decision-making and transactions, is referred to as ‘agentic commerce’ and is quickly becoming a major competition space for AI developers.
Microsoft has its new Copilot Merchant Program, and Perplexity has its “Buy with Pro” feature for shopping within its AI search engine, to name two others.
Regardless of any competition, this is a move that could set up OpenAI for a new role in ‘doing’ and not just ‘knowing. Until now, ChatGPT’s value was mostly cerebral—it helped you think, organize, and research. But letting you buy things directly with Shopify’s help might give a lot of people a new perspective on what ChatGPT is for.
OpenAI has already experimented with the Operator agent to browse the web on your behalf. This just extends its power into transactions as well. ChatGPT won’t just suggest things for you to do; it will carry out those tasks for you.
It’s not that AI-assisted shopping will end all websites for buying things, but the promise of AI-assisted shopping is that it can cut through the noise, learn your preferences, and serve up products tailored to you. That won’t save you from buyer’s regret, though; it just gets you there faster.
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erichs211@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
