OpenAI Shifts Commerce Strategy Toward Brand-Owned ChatGPT Apps

OpenAI launched Instant Checkout with Stripe in September 2025 and integrated the service with Etsy and Shopify. The original plan was to let consumers complete purchases within ChatGPT and charge merchants a commission based on transaction value, though neither the fee rate nor actual revenue was disclosed. The model affects whether merchants can retain control of customer data, the checkout process and brand relationships, drawing attention to the strategy shift.

On March 4, 2026, OpenAI confirmed that it was shifting Instant Checkout’s focus to retailers’ own ChatGPT apps and prioritizing improvements to product search and discovery. As of March 11, about 100 companies had ChatGPT apps, but only Instacart, launched on December 8, 2025, supported in-app checkout. Of the millions of merchants on Shopify, only about 12 were selling through AI tools.