The generative AI vendor is pulling back on plans to make ChatGPT a direct e-commerce channel after a series of problems with its Instant Checkout feature.
The vendor publicized a number of changes in a blog post on March 24 confirming a rethink in strategy from last year, when the company launched a shopping assistant.
At the time, OpenAI highlighted the potential of Instant Checkout, which enabled users to discuss potential purchases with a chatbot before adding products to a checkout cart within ChatGPT itself.
Although users ultimately bought the items from the retailers — big names such as Etsy, Walmart and Shopify were among those who signed up — ChatGPT essentially acted as an agent or portal for them.
It appears that has not gone smoothly, however, with OpenAI conceding: “We’ve found that the initial version of Instant Checkout did not offer the level of flexibility that we aspire to provide, so we’re allowing merchants to use their own checkout experiences.”
Among the glitches OpenAI is said to have encountered are problems with onboarding retailers, handling multi-item carts, and connecting with sellers’ loyalty programs.
While retailers will apparently still have the option of using the feature within apps in ChatGPT, developing it further is not a priority for OpenAI, which said it will now focus its efforts on product discovery.
What this means for users is more detailed assistance in figuring out what to buy. While ChatGPT has previously offered advice on potential purchases and relevant comparisons, it is now promising to improve the experience with “richer and more visual shopping”.
Users can refine requests by budget, dimensions and preferences, and upload images for inspiration, while OpenAI claims it has improved the bot’s speed, relevance and product coverage for a more comprehensive service.
The updates are rolling out to all ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro users this week.
The entire ChatGPT shopping experience is being enabled by the expansion of OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard for AI commerce developed in tandem with fintech vendor Stripe and merchant partners.
Currently, ACP lets merchants share product feeds and promotions in ChatGPT, but according to OpenAI, it will enable broader experiences such as enhanced personalization and greater localization. Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Lowe’s, Best Buy, The Home Depot, and Wayfair are among the retailers that have already integrated into ACP for product discovery.
