ChatGPT enters e-commerce: this is what shopping without leaving the chat will be like

Until now, talking to a chatbot was useful for solving questions or finding inspiration.
But since September 2025, ChatGPT can complete a full purchase. No open tabs, no carts, no traditional checkout.

OpenAI has just announced its new feature ChatGPT Checkout, in collaboration with Etsy and Shopify, allowing users to buy products directly within the conversation.
Yes, literally: you ask the chat to recommend a handmade lamp or custom sneakers, it shows you options, you pick one, confirm payment, and that’s it.

The entire process —discovering, deciding, and paying— happens within the same conversational flow.
One less click for the user, one giant leap for e-commerce.

And although it might seem like just another tech curiosity, it could mark a turning point in how we understand online commerce.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What this partnership really means

• Why this changes the rules of the game

• Who wins (and who’s at risk)

• What it means for brands and digital marketing

What this partnership really means

OpenAI has laid the first stone of what we could call conversational e-commerce, and it’s done so with a clear structure:

🛒 Integrated checkout: Users can complete their purchase inside the chat without being redirected to the store.

🤝 Initial partners: Etsy in the U.S. (pilot phase), with Shopify.

💳 Payments handled by Stripe, with the promise to open the protocol to external developers.

💰 Business model: No cost for users; sellers pay a commission for each completed sale.

🧺 Initial limited version: For now, only one product per transaction (full cart support coming soon).

🌍 Progressive expansion: OpenAI plans to extend the service to other markets throughout 2026.

Etsy shares rose more than 7% after the announcement, and Shopify’s went up 4%. No coincidence: both platforms understand that ChatGPT could become the new digital storefront where competition isn’t about clicks, but about being the right answer. 

Why this changes the rules of the game

The integration of ChatGPT with Etsy and Shopify isn’t just a new feature. It’s a paradigm shift.

1️⃣ Goodbye to the classic funnel

Until now, the customer journey was: discover → compare → click → buy.
Now: talk → discover → buy.
The funnel flattens. And that means brands lose room to maneuver between inspiration and conversion. There’s no space for retargeting or cross-selling. Only for being present at the moment of intent.

2️⃣ ChatGPT becomes the storefront

For years, people talked about “voice commerce.” Well, this is the next level: an AI assistant that doesn’t just recommend, but acts as a marketplace.
Users no longer search on Google or Amazon; they ask the chat directly, and they trust its response.
The key question now is: how will brands appear in those recommendations? Under what criteria are results ranked?

3️⃣ The rise of invisible e-commerce

The future of online commerce won’t be seen. Literally.
Because it’s no longer about browsing, but about conversing.
Shopping is integrated into natural contexts: messages, recommendations, AI chats.
And that transforms the role of ads, branded content, and even the very idea of what an “online store” is.

Who wins (and who’s at risk)

🚀 Winners

• Etsy and Shopify, gaining a new sales channel without depending on search engines.
• Small businesses, now able to appear before millions of users in the most competitive environment on the planet: ChatGPT.
• OpenAI, moving beyond subscriptions and opening a transaction-based revenue model.
• Consumers, who gain immediacy and fluidity. Shopping is no longer a process; it’s a conversation.
  
  

⚠️ Challenges

• Trust: Who is responsible if something goes wrong? The support model is still unclear.
• Regulation: OpenAI enters the territory of financial services and consumer protection, with all that implies.
• Visibility and bias: What happens if ChatGPT prioritizes certain sellers or categories?
• Scalability: The system works with simple products, but how will it handle variants, international shipping, or returns?

What it means for brands and digital marketing

For brands, this partnership is a direct wake-up call: the future of online sales won’t happen on a website, but in a conversation.
And that changes the entire architecture of marketing.

New challenges for advertisers

1. Optimize product feeds for conversational environments: AI doesn’t “read” product pages like humans — it needs clean, updated, and structured data.
2. Rethink creativity: images must be clear, contextual, and compatible with generative models.
3. Measure visibility in AI environments: how to know if your brand “appears” when someone asks for a recommendation inside ChatGPT.
   
   

At this point, tools like Adsmurai Marketing Platform (AMP) become essential.
Because connecting data, products, and creativity in real time is exactly what allows you to show up and stand out in new generative search environments.

At Adsmurai, we’re already seeing it: brands that automate their feeds, manage their campaigns from one place, and understand how AI classifies their catalog get seen first and sell faster.
The battle for the click is over; the battle for context has begun.

The future is now shoppable

In 2025, artificial intelligence has stopped being the one recommending a product to become the one selling it.
And while it might sound exaggerated, it’s exactly what happened with the “one-click checkout” 20 years ago: it seemed like a gimmick at first, and then it changed global commerce.

The union of OpenAI, Etsy, and Shopify is not just an experiment — it’s the first step toward a global conversational commerce, where talking is buying and data makes it possible.

The question is no longer when it will reach your country.

The question is:
👉 Are you preparing your data, your catalog, and your creativity for when it does?