When AI Starts Selling for You: OpenAI’s Instant Checkout and What It Means for Brands
Image Credit: Shalom Harlow sprayed with paint by robots during the finale of the Alexander McQueen Spring 1999 RTW show. Photo by Guy Marineau/Conde Nast via Getty Images
OpenAI recently introduced Instant Checkout for US users only, a new feature that allows users to purchase products directly inside a chat. Instead of pointing customers to an external website, the transaction is completed without leaving the conversation.
It may seem like a small convenience. In reality, this is a fundamental shift in how people discover and buy. For brands, particularly in retail and lifestyle, it changes how the funnel works and where to focus investment.
What Changes With Instant Checkout
No redirects: Instead of sending customers to a website, the entire checkout experience happens inside the chat.
High-intent conversion: If someone is asking an AI assistant about a product, they’re already motivated to buy. Removing steps makes the sale easier.
Platform control: Payments, fraud detection, and infrastructure sit with OpenAI. Brands plug in via structured product data and integrations.
Why It Matters
Lower drop-off rates: Every step removed from checkout increases conversion. Instant Checkout is designed to keep users in the buying flow.
New discovery channels: Increasingly, product discovery won’t start with a Google search or an Instagram ad. It will happen in a chat. Brands must be ready to meet customers there.
The pressure on product data: For AI checkouts to work, product catalogues need to be structured perfectly. Clean SKUs, high-quality images, accurate dimensions, and descriptions optimised for machine readability.
Shopify’s Advantage
Shopify is already positioning itself as the connective tissue between merchants and emerging sales channels. Its APIs and app ecosystem make it easier to syndicate clean product data into multiple platforms.
For US-based brands on Shopify, this is an opportunity to move quickly. By ensuring product feeds are optimised and linked through Shopify’s integrations, brands can be among the first to surface in AI-driven checkouts. Shopify’s own experiments with AI search and commerce integrations make it a natural early partner for OpenAI and similar platforms.
What US Brands Should Do Now
Audit your product catalogue
Make sure product names, attributes, and images are machine-friendly. The AI needs structured data to surface your items in a buying flow.Enable Shopify integrations
If you’re already on Shopify, lean into the ecosystem. Use apps and APIs that distribute your catalogue to external channels. This is the foundation for visibility in AI checkouts.Run small pilots
Start with low-risk SKUs or accessory products. Test how AI checkouts affect conversion, returns, and customer support before rolling out at scale.Prepare for margin pressure
Like marketplaces and social commerce platforms, AI checkouts may come with fees. Model these costs early to understand their impact on your unit economics.Protect your brand experience
A chat interface compresses storytelling. Invest in high-impact imagery, concise copy, and strong product naming that communicates value in a few words.
What This Means for the Future
Instant Checkout is not going to replace every brand website or store. Shoppers will still seek richer browsing experiences for high-consideration products. But for low-friction, high-intent purchases, AI chat could quickly become a dominant channel.
For brands, this isn’t just about enabling another sales tool. It’s about future-proofing product visibility. In the same way that SEO became essential in the Google era, “AI visibility” will become critical in the chat era. Those who prepare their catalogues and infrastructure now will be the first to benefit.