OpenAI revamps ChatGPT shopping after Instant Checkout struggled

OpenAI is shifting from its Instant Checkout effort to a product discovery-focused shopping experience in ChatGPT, allowing users to find items by image or description and enabling merchants to share product feeds.

OpenAI is rolling out a revised shopping experience inside ChatGPT that focuses on helping people find and compare products. The move follows a pullback from Instant Checkout, which let users buy select items directly in ChatGPT but did not gain expected use. The new approach lets shoppers upload images or describe items and add criteria like budget and preferences. OpenAI said it has improved speed, relevance and product coverage for shopping queries. Key details: - Users can search for products by uploading images or by describing items and adding constraints such as budget and preferences. - OpenAI said it has improved speed, relevance and product coverage so results are more up-to-date. - The company stopped pursuing its initial Instant Checkout model and is allowing merchants to use their own checkout flows while focusing on product discovery. - Merchants can share product feeds and promotions so their items are represented within ChatGPT; retailers including Target, Sephora and Nordstrom are supporting the new experience. - Companies can build custom apps inside ChatGPT for deeper integrations; Instacart, Target and others have previously added retail apps. - Shopify said it is upgrading the ChatGPT shopping experience and introduced an Agentic Plan for merchants, and Walmart introduced an in-app ChatGPT service that supports linking, loyalty and Walmart payments. Summary: The shift reduces OpenAI's emphasis on handling transactions directly inside ChatGPT and concentrates on making product discovery more useful. Merchants can share product feeds to ensure their catalogues appear and can pursue deeper control through custom apps. Several retailers and platform partners are updating integrations to align with the new approach. Undetermined at this time.