OpenAI’s E-commerce Ambitions: ChatGPT to Become a Transaction Platform

OpenAI is developing an integrated payment checkout system within ChatGPT that would allow users to complete purchases without leaving the chat interface, according to a Financial Times report published today. The move represents a significant expansion beyond the company’s traditional subscription model, potentially transforming ChatGPT from an AI assistant into a full-fledged e-commerce platform.

Merchants that fulfill orders through the payment system will pay a commission to OpenAI, marking the company’s entry into transaction-based revenue streams at a time when its annualized revenue run rate has surged to $10 billion.

The Checkout System: Breaking Down the Details

According to multiple people familiar with the proposals cited by the Financial Times, the checkout feature is still in development, but OpenAI and partners such as e-commerce platform Shopify have been presenting early versions of the system to brands and discussing financial terms.

The partnership with Shopify appears to be deepening. Code hints spotted in ChatGPT’s backend (things like shopify_checkout_url) suggest that soon, users could shop and check out without even leaving the chat window. This would represent a fundamental shift in how AI chatbots handle commercial transactions.

Neither OpenAI nor Shopify have publicly commented on the report, maintaining silence as they continue development of what could be a game-changing feature for both companies.

From Discovery to Transaction: OpenAI’s E-commerce Evolution

OpenAI’s journey into e-commerce has accelerated dramatically over the past year, evolving through three distinct phases:

Phase 1: Shopping Discovery (April 2025)

In April, OpenAI rolled out shopping features that transformed ChatGPT into a product discovery tool. When ChatGPT users search for products, the chatbot will now offer a few recommendations, present images and reviews for those items, and include direct links to web pages where users can buy the products.

The adoption has been remarkable. Search has become one of our most popular & fastest growing features, with over 1 billion web searches just in the past week, OpenAI reported. The feature reached all user tiers—Pro, Plus, Free, and even logged-out users—creating a massive potential customer base for merchants.

Phase 2: AI Agent Shopping (January 2025)

OpenAI took the next step with Operator, its artificial intelligence (AI) agent designed to handle web-based tasks, including ecommerce, on behalf of users. Unlike chatbots that only provide answers, Operator acts like a virtual assistant. Its abilities include clicking, scrolling and typing to complete online tasks with minimal user input.

Early partners included major e-commerce brands: eBay, Instacart and Etsy. The system allowed users to create custom workflows, essentially turning repetitive shopping tasks into automated processes.

Phase 3: Native Checkout (Now in Development)

The checkout system represents the final piece of OpenAI’s e-commerce puzzle. Instead of sending users to external sites, transactions would happen entirely within ChatGPT. Instant checkout, inside an AI conversation. No websites to load. No carts to manage. Just a question, a suggestion, and a completed purchase.

Revenue Model and Financial Implications

OpenAI’s current revenue streams are primarily subscription-based, with the company charging $20/month for Plus users and $200/month for Pro users. The addition of transaction commissions would create an entirely new revenue model based on volume rather than recurring fees.

The financial stakes are significant. OpenAI said earlier this year that its annualized revenue run rate surged to $10 billion as of June, up from $5.5 billion in December 2024. However, the company, however, lost around $5 billion last year, making new revenue streams critical for achieving profitability.

While specific commission rates haven’t been disclosed, industry standards suggest OpenAI could charge anywhere from 2-10% per transaction, depending on the product category and merchant agreement. With ChatGPT’s massive user base—500 million active users as of April 2025—even modest adoption could generate substantial revenue.

Strategic Implications for E-commerceThe Platform Transformation

By integrating checkout capabilities, OpenAI transforms ChatGPT from a destination into a platform. This creates powerful network effects where more users attract more merchants, which in turn attracts more users. The convenience factor alone could be revolutionary—imagine describing what you want and completing the purchase in the same conversation.

Disrupting Traditional E-commerce

For marketers? It’s a new kind of battlefield where being optimized for AI-driven shopping is going to matter the same way ranking #1 in Google does now. Brands will need to ensure their products are discoverable not just through traditional SEO, but through AI recommendation systems.

The implications extend beyond individual merchants. Traditional e-commerce platforms face a new form of competition where conversational commerce could bypass their interfaces entirely. Google Shopping, Amazon’s product search, and even social commerce platforms may need to rethink their strategies.

The Shopify Partnership

For Shopify, this partnership could be transformative. For Shopify merchants, this could be a really big deal. The e-commerce platform gains access to ChatGPT’s massive user base while providing the infrastructure for secure payments and order fulfillment.

Privacy and Trust Considerations

OpenAI has emphasized that shopping recommendations are not influenced by advertising. OpenAI says it’s determining ChatGPT shopping results independently and notes that ads are not part of this upgrade to ChatGPT search. Furthermore, the company won’t receive a kickback from purchases made through ChatGPT search—at least not through the current external link system.

However, the checkout system raises new questions about data privacy and financial security. How will OpenAI handle payment information? What data will be shared with merchants? How will disputes be resolved? These questions will need clear answers before widespread adoption can occur.

Competitive Landscape and Market Response

OpenAI’s move into e-commerce transactions puts it in direct competition with established players:

Google has been integrating shopping features into its search products for years, but lacks ChatGPT’s conversational interface and user engagement.

Amazon remains the e-commerce giant but could face pressure if conversational shopping proves more convenient than traditional browsing and searching.

Meta has invested heavily in social commerce but hasn’t achieved the breakthrough success it hoped for with Instagram and Facebook Shops.

Apple has been notably absent from e-commerce beyond its own products, potentially leaving an opening for OpenAI to capture iOS users.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Conversational Commerce

The checkout feature is just the beginning. Soon, OpenAI says it will integrate its memory feature with shopping for Pro and Plus users, meaning ChatGPT will reference a user’s previous chats to make highly personalized product recommendations. This could create an AI shopping assistant that knows your preferences, budget, and purchase history better than any current recommendation algorithm.

The broader vision is clear: a future where shopping happens through natural conversation rather than clicking through websites. Users describe what they need, AI understands context and preferences, and transactions happen seamlessly in the background.

Market Impact and Industry Reactions

While official responses from major players remain pending, the implications are already rippling through the industry. E-commerce stocks may need to be re-evaluated based on their AI readiness. Marketing strategies will need to evolve from SEO optimization to AI optimization. And traditional retail, already disrupted by e-commerce, faces yet another wave of transformation.

For consumers, the promise is compelling: an AI that not only understands what you want but can instantly purchase it for you. For merchants, it’s both an opportunity and a challenge—access to a massive new sales channel, but one that operates by different rules than traditional e-commerce.

Conclusion: A Pivotal Moment for Digital Commerce

OpenAI’s checkout system represents more than a new feature—it’s a potential paradigm shift in how commerce happens online. By eliminating the friction between discovery and purchase, ChatGPT could become the primary interface between consumers and products.

The success of this initiative will depend on execution. Security must be ironclad. The user experience must be seamless. Merchant tools must be robust. And perhaps most importantly, consumers must trust an AI with their financial transactions.

If OpenAI succeeds, we may look back on this announcement as the moment when conversational commerce moved from concept to reality. The question isn’t whether AI will transform shopping, but how quickly retailers, platforms, and consumers will adapt to this new reality.

As one industry observer noted: Shopping through AI isn’t “the future” — it’s already here. OpenAI just pulled forward the timeline. With checkout integration, that timeline just accelerated dramatically.

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