OpenAI recently launched an "Instant Checkout" feature in ChatGPT, and it’s definitely turning heads. This isn’t just a minor update; it’s a clear signal that conversational AI is moving beyond writing essays and into your shopping cart. The news came with partnerships with big names like Etsy and Shopify, showing that AI is no longer just giving you information, it’s starting to do things in the real world.
But honestly, the "Buy" button isn’t the most interesting part. What’s happening behind the scenes is what matters: a new, open-source framework called the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). This could change how customers shop and talk to brands, so it’s something every online business should get their head around. We’ll walk through what it is, how it functions, and what it actually means for your bottom line.
What is the ChatGPT checkout open source feature?
For a customer, it’s dead simple. You could ask ChatGPT for gift ideas, like "what are the best hiking boots under $150," and when you spot a pair you like, you can buy it right there in the chat. You don’t have to click away to another website, find the product again, and type in your credit card info. The whole purchase happens without you ever leaving the conversation.
The feature is starting in the U.S. with Etsy sellers and will soon be available to millions of Shopify merchants. For OpenAI, it’s a new way to make money. They collect what they call a "small fee" from the merchant on each transaction, though they haven’t said exactly how much. For your business, you’re still the "merchant of record," which just means you handle shipping, returns, and customer service like you normally would.
The engine making this all run is what’s really interesting. The ChatGPT checkout is built on an open source framework called the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), which OpenAI developed with Stripe. You can think of ACP as a set of rules that lets an AI agent securely buy something for a user. It’s the groundwork that could, in theory, be used by other developers and platforms down the road.
How the ChatGPT checkout open source protocol works
So, how does an AI actually click "buy" for you? The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) sets up a standard, secure way for an AI agent like ChatGPT to communicate with a store’s e-commerce system. It was built to be safe and to keep the user in the driver’s seat.
graph TD
A[1. User Request: User tells ChatGPT they want to buy an item] ---> B;
B[2. Token Issuance: Merchant’s system generates a secure, one-time payment token] ---> C;
C[3. User Approval: AI presents the final order summary for user to approve] ---> D;
D[4. Payment Execution: ChatGPT sends the token to a payment processor like Stripe] ---> E;
E[5. Fulfillment: Merchant receives the confirmed order and handles shipping]
Here’s a quick look at how a transaction unfolds:
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User Request: It all kicks off when a user says they want to buy something inside the chat.
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Token Issuance: The merchant’s system creates a secure, one-time-use "payment token." This isn’t your credit card number, but a unique code for that specific purchase. It holds the key details, like the merchant’s ID, the price, and the currency.
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User Approval: The AI shows the final order summary to the user for a last look. Nothing is charged until the user gives the final "okay" by clicking the "Buy" button. This step is obviously super important for security and trust.
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Payment Execution: Once you approve, ChatGPT sends the token to a payment processor like Stripe to handle the charge.
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Fulfillment: The merchant’s system gets the confirmed order, and they take it from there, packing, shipping, and any follow-up customer service, using their existing setup.
The whole point is that ChatGPT is just the go-between, not the seller. It helps the transaction happen but doesn’t store sensitive payment details or get involved in shipping your order. And while the protocol was built with Stripe and is a breeze for their current customers to use, it was designed to work with other payment platforms eventually.
ChatGPT checkout open source: Opportunities and limitations for e-commerce businesses
A new channel with millions of potential customers is always worth a look. But before diving in, it’s a good idea to weigh the pros and cons, because there are definitely some trade-offs.
The opportunity: A new, conversational sales channel
The biggest upside is pretty obvious: you get access to ChatGPT’s massive audience. We’re talking over 700 million weekly active users, a huge chunk of whom are already asking shopping-related questions. These are people ready to buy.
By putting a "Buy" button right in the conversation, you remove nearly all the usual hurdles. A customer can go from discovering a product to owning it in just a couple of clicks. For impulse buys, this could be huge and might lead to better conversion rates. It’s a direct line to a huge, engaged audience at the very moment they’re looking for something you sell.
This video demonstrates how AI like ChatGPT can be used to create an online shop, highlighting the potential of AI in e-commerce.
The limitations: Giving up control and customer data
That all sounds great, but it comes with a catch. The convenience of the ChatGPT checkout means businesses have to hand over a fair bit of control over the customer experience.
Here are a few things to think about:
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You lose out on website traffic: When a sale happens entirely inside ChatGPT, that’s one less person visiting your site. You miss the chance to show them what your brand is all about, recommend other products, or get them to sign up for your newsletter. Your website is your turf, and this keeps customers on someone else’s.
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You get minimal customer data: The ACP protocol is built for user privacy, which is good for customers but tough for businesses. It only passes along the bare minimum info needed to ship the order. You won’t get the usual insights about how they found you or what else they looked at. That’s all data you’d normally use to improve your marketing and website.
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You’re at the mercy of OpenAI’s algorithm: Your products will only appear if ChatGPT thinks they’re a good match. How does it decide? It’s a black box. There’s no playbook for "Generative Engine Optimization" yet. Your sales depend entirely on a platform you have no control over.
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It’s pretty basic for now: Right now, the feature only works for single-item purchases. That’s a dealbreaker for most e-commerce stores where customers typically add multiple items to their cart.
This is where you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it. Instead of sending customers to a third-party platform, what if you could bring that AI power to your own website? Tools like eesel AI work with your existing setup, so you always stay in control. For example, an AI Chatbot for Shopify can sit on your website, answer tricky product questions, check order statuses, and guide people through checkout, all while keeping them in your world where you own the experience and the data.
Beyond the ChatGPT checkout open source feature: The future of agentic AI in customer support
A "Buy" button is a solid first step, but it only covers a tiny slice of the customer journey. A truly helpful AI agent needs to do a lot more than just process a payment; it needs to help manage the whole customer relationship.
Real customer service is messy. People have questions before they buy ("Does this jacket come in tall sizes?"), during the purchase ("My discount code isn’t working"), and long after ("How do I return this?"). The ChatGPT Instant Checkout just isn’t set up to handle these back-and-forth conversations. It’s a checkout tool, not a support agent.
This is where a dedicated AI support platform really shines. While the ChatGPT checkout and its open source protocol are built for a single task, a platform like eesel AI has a full workflow engine that can help across the entire customer journey. For example, an eesel AI Agent can:
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Perform Custom Actions: It can connect to your internal systems to get real-time information. It can check an order status in Shopify, find a technical document in a Confluence space, or look up a customer’s ticket history.
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Triage and Route Tickets: It doesn’t just answer questions. The AI can automatically tag support tickets, send them to the right person, or escalate a chat to a human agent in helpdesks like Zendesk or Intercom if things get complicated.
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Learn from Your Knowledge: Most importantly, it trains on your business information. By reading your past support tickets, help docs, and internal guides, it learns to answer questions using your brand’s specific voice and knowledge.
A checkout button is a one-and-done action. A real AI agent is a dynamic system that learns and supports customers from their first question to their final resolution.
Comparing ChatGPT checkout open source pricing: OpenAI vs. a dedicated AI platform
Let’s talk money, because the way you pay for these two options is completely different, and it’s important to understand what that means for your budget.
OpenAI’s model is based on transactions. They charge merchants that "small fee" we mentioned for every sale that comes through the feature. This is basically a commission, which means it’s a variable cost. The catch? It’s totally unpredictable. You don’t know the exact fee, and your costs will go up and down with your sales. That makes it tough to budget and basically penalizes you for having a great month.
On the other hand, eesel AI’s pricing is clear and predictable.
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Transparent Tiers: The plans are based on a fixed number of monthly AI interactions (an answer or an action), not a cut of your revenue. You know exactly what you’re paying for.
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No Per-Resolution Fees: You never get charged more just because your AI successfully helps more customers. Your bill is the same whether you’re in a slow season or the middle of a holiday rush. Your costs are tied to usage, not revenue.
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Predictable Budgeting: With simple monthly or annual plans, you know exactly what your bill will be. For example, the Team plan starts at $239 a month (billed annually) for 1,000 AI interactions. That kind of straightforward pricing is key for growing your business without getting hit with surprise costs.
The ChatGPT checkout open source protocol: Embrace agentic AI on your own terms
The launch of ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout is a pretty cool development. It shows that AI is becoming a real tool for shopping and gives us a peek at a future where just talking can lead to a purchase.
But for most businesses, building a key part of your sales process inside someone else’s platform is a big risk. You give up control over your brand, you lose access to valuable customer data, and you can’t manage the full customer experience from start to finish.
The smarter move might be to bring AI into your world, where it works for you. With a tool like eesel AI, you can get powerful, custom AI agents running on your helpdesk, website, and internal tools in minutes. Instead of hoping customers stumble upon you in ChatGPT, you can bring conversational AI directly to them, on your own terms.
Frequently asked questions
The ChatGPT checkout open source feature allows customers to buy products directly within a ChatGPT conversation. It’s built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), which provides a standardized, secure way for an AI agent to communicate with an e-commerce system. For online stores, it means a new sales channel with potentially frictionless transactions.
The protocol ensures security through a series of steps. When a user wants to buy, the merchant’s system issues a secure, one-time payment token. The user must then explicitly approve the final order summary before ChatGPT sends the token to a payment processor like Stripe, ensuring no sensitive details are stored by ChatGPT itself.
The biggest advantage is access to ChatGPT’s massive audience, estimated at over 700 million weekly active users. This feature creates a highly frictionless purchase path, removing traditional hurdles and potentially leading to higher conversion rates for impulse buys by allowing purchases directly within the conversation.
Businesses using this feature give up control over the customer experience and lose valuable website traffic. They also receive minimal customer data for marketing insights and are subject to OpenAI’s algorithm for product visibility, which can be a "black box" regarding optimization.
OpenAI charges a variable "small fee" per transaction, making costs unpredictable and tied directly to sales volume. In contrast, dedicated AI platforms like eesel AI offer transparent, predictable pricing tiers based on a fixed number of monthly AI interactions, providing clear budgeting without surprise costs.
The ChatGPT checkout open source is primarily designed as a payment processing tool for single-item purchases. It is not set up to handle complex, multi-turn customer service conversations or manage the entire customer relationship from pre-purchase questions to post-purchase support and returns.
