Just five months after entering Agentic Commerce with its Instant Checkout, OpenAI is already pulling the plug. It appears that while users research products via ChatGPT, they do not use the bot to complete purchases. However, OpenAI may be giving up too quickly: changing established user behaviour requires persistence – and, of course, the necessary investments.
Amazon is reportedly in talks with OpenAI about an investment of up to $50 billion. OpenAI is seeking a total of around $100 billion in fresh capital. SoftBank also said to be among the potential investors. OpenAI has also set the price for its new ads on ChatGPT at $60 per 1,000 impressions. That’s about three times as much as Meta.
OpenAI is making its “ChatGPT Instant Checkout” a paid service and charging a 4% sales commission – initially from Shopify merchants. The reason for this is the high pressure to monetize due to the high investments. At the same time, OpenAI is changing the retail landscape: those who don’t pay lose convenience and thus sales – a clear signal that agentic commerce is no longer a free traffic channel.
Google has introduced a new open standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UPC). Its goal is to accelerate the AI-platform shift in commerce by standardizing processes such as product search and checkout via AI bots. Platforms and retailers including Walmart, Etsy, Shopify, Shopee, Carrefour, Target, Macy’s, and Wayfair were involved in its development, as they seek to secure their position within the customer journey.
Live shopping is becoming a key trend in European e-commerce – and eBay Live has now brought its own version to Germany. Other European markets will likely follow soon. The new feature lets sellers stream, interact, and sell in real time through the eBay app, combining entertainment and commerce.
OpenAI and Perplexity on the Road to an AI Marketplace
Both OpenAI and Perplexity are pushing strongly toward becoming a marketplace with their agentic commerce projects: OpenAI introduced Shopping Research, a product search for ChatGPT that generates personalized buyer’s guides. Merchants can apply for greater visibility through an allow-list process. Perplexity also enables lightweight product data placement via a Merchant Program. What’s still missing for the marketplace transition is checkout.
OpenAI is rolling out a native checkout in ChatGPT, letting users in the U.S. buy products without ever leaving the chat. The first integrations are with Etsy and Shopify sellers. Users can see product options, select variants, and complete the purchase directly in the interface. It’s a first step toward what some call “agentic commerce” – where AI handles not just discovery, but also transactions.
In the US, this accusation led to the imminent demise of TikTok: The EU has fined TikTok €530 million for transferring user data to China. TikTok now has six months to bring its app into compliance with EU regulations. Fortune
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Active Campaign. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Vimeo. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Instagram. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Google Maps. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Google Maps. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from X. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information