With 700 million weekly active users, ChatGPT is not just a conversational AI; it’s now a burgeoning marketplace. The recent launch of ‘Instant Checkout,’ powered by Stripe, has sent ripples through the e-commerce sector, evidenced by immediate stock jumps for Etsy (16%) and Shopify (6%). This move signifies a pivotal moment in how we perceive digital transactions and AI’s role in them. For businesses, it signals a fundamental shift in customer acquisition and engagement.
This initiative by OpenAI and Stripe isn’t an isolated event. It fits squarely into the burgeoning trend of ‘agentic commerce,’ where AI agents facilitate transactions directly. We’ve seen similar strategic plays, like the PayPal and Google partnership earlier in September 2025, signaling a wider industry pivot towards embedded payments and AI-driven shopping experiences. Projections suggest conversational commerce could reach a staggering $290 billion globally by 2025, painting a clear picture of where the market is headed.
Decoding the Agentic Commerce Revolution
At the heart of this transformation lies the ‘Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP),’ an open standard co-developed by OpenAI and Stripe. This protocol is designed to create a shared language between businesses and AI agents, allowing merchants to integrate once and sell through AI while maintaining control over their brand, fulfillment, and crucial customer relationships. This is a critical distinction, preventing AI platforms from becoming opaque intermediaries.
Instant Checkout currently supports single-item purchases for all U.S. ChatGPT users—Free, Plus, and Pro. Users can ask for product recommendations, and if a product supports Instant Checkout, they can tap ‘Buy,’ confirm details, and complete the purchase without ever leaving the chat. Payments are handled securely by Stripe, which issues a Shared Payment Token (SPT) to initiate transactions without exposing raw user credentials. It’s also vital to note that product recommendations are ranked by relevance, not by sponsorship or whether Instant Checkout is enabled, ensuring a focus on user experience. Exploring the Rise of Conversational AI in Retail
The Story in the Data: Market Shifts and Merchant Dynamics
The immediate market reaction—Etsy and Shopify shares jumping post-announcement—underscores investor confidence in this new commerce model. For OpenAI, it opens a significant new revenue stream beyond subscriptions, leveraging ChatGPT’s massive user base. For merchants, it presents a high-reach sales channel, initially with Etsy sellers and soon expanding to over one million Shopify merchants, including major brands like Glossier and SKIMS. This could lead to an initial surge in sales for participating sellers and provide valuable data on user adoption and preferences for in-chat commerce. For a deeper dive into the specifics, consider OpenAI’s official announcement.
