This week, OpenAI announced something that could quietly reshape the way people shop online: “Buy It in ChatGPT.” In simple terms, users will be able to move from asking for advice in ChatGPT to actually buying a product, without ever leaving the chat window.
What is “Buy It in ChatGPT”?
Powered by the new Agentic Commerce Protocol, developed with Stripe, this update allows brands to plug straight into ChatGPT’s checkout flow without having to rebuild their e-commerce systems. Payments, fulfilment, returns and customer service remain firmly with the retailer, so ecommerce businesses stay in control of the customer relationship. The real shift is in how customers discover and buy: through a conversation with AI.
It’s starting with integrations for Shopify and Etsy in the US. For shoppers, the appeal is obvious. Instead of bouncing between websites and shopping carts, they can research, compare and purchase with a single tap. Checkout is built in, every step requires explicit approval, and trust and security are baked into the process.
What does it mean for brands?
For businesses, however, this move is about much more than convenience. It signals a change in where, and how buying decisions are made. We’ve seen this before: Google became the gatekeeper of information, Amazon turned into the gateway for products, TikTok grew into a discovery engine for trends. Now, ChatGPT is stepping up as a place where intent is captured and acted on instantly.
That brings two big challenges. The first is visibility. If your products aren’t optimised to be discoverable by AI, you risk losing ground to competitors who are. The second is control. Your brand message, product details and customer experience will increasingly be filtered through AI responses. If ChatGPT is the new shopfront, you need to be confident it represents your brand in the right way.
For early adopters, the opportunity is clear. Brands that experiment now will learn how customers phrase their queries, which products convert best in an AI-driven context, and how their brand appears in a conversational setting. Those insights could prove invaluable for shaping wider marketing and sales strategies.
Of course, there are risks. You’ll be relying on algorithms you don’t control. There may be tensions with existing e-commerce channels. And you’ll need to meet higher expectations around trust and transparency when AI is presenting your products. But that’s part and parcel of every major platform shift we’ve seen — and the brands that move early usually benefit most.
This is, in many ways, the dawn of “chat-to-cart” commerce. Unlike traditional search, large language models thrive on richer, more complex queries, which means migrating product feeds isn’t just a copy-and-paste exercise. Brands will need to provide far more detailed data to match the nuance of conversational.
Harry Calvin Williams, take on the latest development:
“At the risk of sounding dramatic, I really do think ecommerce is about to change forever. As soon as users started shifting their searches from traditional search engines and into LLMs, retailers have been wondering when their shopping habits would follow. It feels like the term “Agentic Shopping” has only just emerged and yet here we are with its first iteration already. As ever, our space is evolving rapidly and it’s only the brands who are willing move just as quickly who will capitalise on the space being uncontested”
So where should you start? Focus first on identifying the products in your catalogue that are most ‘AI-ready’ – straightforward, lower-complexity items that lend themselves to frictionless checkout. Make sure your product data and messaging are accurate, structured and compelling enough to perform in an AI environment. And then run small pilots, so you’re learning and adapting ahead of the curve. Understanding and implementing AI SEO or reading more in our guide on how to succeed on LLM’s are also great ways to get started.
Because if the future of commerce really is conversational, the key question isn’t whether your customers will shop this way, it’s whether they’ll be able to find you when they do.
Keen to discuss what this change could mean for your business? Get in touch with our team.
