There’s been a lot of chatter about OpenAI’s new "Instant Checkout" feature, and it’s easy to see why. It feels like a step into a new world of "agentic commerce," where AI doesn’t just find stuff for you, it actually helps you buy it. But while this first version is cool, it also puts a spotlight on some major gaps for businesses, especially the fact that you can’t have a ChatGPT multi item cart.
So, let’s take a look at what ChatGPT’s new shopping tools can do, dig into why they’re still a bit limited for real-world e-commerce, and explore what it really takes to build an AI shopping assistant that can stick with a customer from start to finish.
What is ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout and its single-item limit?
Instant Checkout is a new feature that lets you buy things directly within a ChatGPT conversation. It’s kicking off with merchants on Etsy and is expected to roll out to over a million Shopify stores soon.
The whole system runs on something called the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), which OpenAI built with Stripe. You can think of it as a common language that lets AI agents, online stores, and payment processors all talk to each other securely. For the user, it’s pretty simple: you ask for a product, ChatGPT shows you a few options, and if an item is eligible, a "Buy" button pops up. You can finish the purchase right there in the chat.
OpenAI has said that product rankings are based on relevance, not on whether a store has Instant Checkout turned on. Merchants do, however, pay a small fee for every sale made through the platform.
Agentic commerce in ChatGPT and the multi-item cart problem
When you use Instant Checkout, ChatGPT is basically the go-between. It securely sends your order details to the merchant, and from there, the merchant handles payment, shipping, and any customer service questions using their regular systems. It’s a clean, direct line from seeing something you like to buying it.
But that’s also where the cracks start to appear.
The most glaring issue is the lack of a ChatGPT multi item cart. As of now, you can only buy one thing at a time. Let’s be honest, that’s not how most of us shop online. We browse, we compare, we add a few things to our cart, and maybe we save an item for later. The single-item checkout feels more like grabbing a chocolate bar at the register than doing an actual shopping trip.
Beyond the cart problem, there are a few other practical headaches for businesses:
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Post-sale support is completely separate. If a customer has a question about their order status, needs to make a return, or runs into a problem, they have to leave the chat. The smooth experience breaks down the second the payment is processed, forcing customers back to searching through emails or a help center.
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It only helps at the moment of purchase. The system is laser-focused on that one "buy" click, but that’s just a tiny piece of the customer’s journey. It doesn’t help with all the research that happens before a sale or the support that’s needed after.
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Merchants don’t have much control. You can’t change how your products are displayed, what information the AI gives out, or how it answers follow-up questions. You’re essentially letting a generic AI handle the conversation, and it has no idea what makes your brand special.
Why a ChatGPT multi item cart is just the start of the e-commerce challenge
Getting a multi-item cart to work is table stakes, but real conversational commerce is about so much more than a checkout button. The real trick is managing the entire customer lifecycle, from their very first question to their final follow-up.
A simple "buy now" feature just can’t keep up with the messy reality of a shopping experience:
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Pre-sale questions need specific answers. Customers want to know if a jacket is waterproof, what a product is made of, or if it will work with something they already own. A generic AI can’t answer these company-specific questions because it doesn’t have access to your internal documentation.
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Complex orders need real-time updates. Shoppers want to check an order’s status, change a delivery address, or start a return. These actions require a deep connection to your backend systems, which is something a general tool like ChatGPT isn’t designed for.
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Good answers require connected knowledge. An e-commerce bot that’s actually helpful needs to pull information from several places at once. It has to know what’s in your Shopify catalog, what your help center says about returns, and what your FAQs say about international shipping.
This is where you really see the difference between a generalist AI and a specialist tool. ChatGPT is amazing at what it does, but e-commerce requires a solution that’s been built for the job from the ground up.
<protip text="A truly "agentic" experience means the AI can handle the entire conversation, from "Which of these is best for hiking?" to "Where is my order?" and "How do I start a return?" without making the user jump over to a different app or website.">
Moving beyond a multi-item cart with eesel AI
ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout offers a glimpse into the future, but a purpose-built platform like eesel AI is already equipped to handle the entire e-commerce journey today.
Instead of just focusing on a single transaction, eesel AI is designed to manage the whole customer experience. Here’s how it tackles the limitations of a more general approach:
First, it connects all your e-commerce knowledge. The AI Chatbot from eesel AI plugs directly into your Shopify catalog, your help center docs, and even your past support tickets. This allows it to answer detailed, brand-specific questions about your products and policies with confidence, which is something ChatGPT just can’t do.
A screenshot showing how eesel AI connects to various business applications to build a comprehensive knowledge base, a key differentiator from a basic ChatGPT multi item cart.Next, it goes beyond the sale with custom actions. You can set up "AI Actions" in eesel AI to look up real-time order information from your backend. It can also create support tickets in help desks like Zendesk or Gorgias and pass conversations to a human agent, all without disrupting the chat.
This image shows the AI Actions setup in eesel AI, which enables looking up order information, a feature not available with the ChatGPT multi item cart.It also integrates without causing chaos. eesel AI works with your existing helpdesk and workflows, so you don’t have to tear everything down and start over. You can get it up and running in minutes, not months, because it’s built to play nicely with the tools you already rely on.
Finally, you can test it with confidence. Before you go live, eesel AI’s simulation mode lets you see how the AI will handle thousands of your past customer conversations. This gives you a clear forecast of its performance and impact, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
The eesel AI simulation mode provides a clear performance forecast, a crucial step for businesses considering solutions beyond the ChatGPT multi item cart.Comparing AI commerce pricing models
Another thing to consider is how you pay for all this. OpenAI’s model for merchants includes a fee on each transaction. While the exact numbers aren’t public yet, this kind of model can lead to costs that are hard to predict. As your sales grow, so does your AI bill.
eesel AI offers a much more straightforward alternative. Our plans are based on a flat number of AI interactions per month, not a cut of your sales. You won’t get a shocking bill after a busy holiday season, and there are no extra fees per resolution. This transparency makes it easier for businesses to plan their budgets and scale without worry.
| Plan | Monthly Price (Billed Annually) | AI Interactions/mo | Key E-commerce Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | $239 | Up to 1,000 | Train on website/docs, AI Copilot for help desk, Slack integration. |
| Business | $639 | Up to 3,000 | Everything in Team + Train on past tickets, Shopify integration, AI Actions (API calls for order lookup), bulk simulation. |
| Custom | Contact Sales | Unlimited | Advanced actions, custom integrations, multi-agent orchestration. |
This video demonstrates how ChatGPT's agent capabilities can be used for various tasks, including shopping, illustrating the agentic commerce concepts that are currently limited by the lack of a ChatGPT multi item cart.
The future of AI shopping beyond the ChatGPT multi item cart
Agentic commerce is definitely here to stay, and ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout is a fascinating look at what’s on the horizon. But its current shortcomings, like the missing ChatGPT multi item cart and its inability to connect deeply with business systems, show that a one-size-fits-all AI isn’t quite ready for the complex world of e-commerce.
The real future of AI in shopping belongs to specialized, controllable, and fully integrated platforms that can manage the customer’s entire journey. You need a tool that doesn’t just process a transaction but helps build a relationship, from the very first question to the final resolution.
Ready to build an AI experience that goes beyond a simple buy button? See how eesel AI can help automate your entire e-commerce customer journey, from pre-sale questions to post-sale support. You can book a demo or start your free trial today.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, that’s correct. As of now, ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout feature only allows you to purchase one item at a time. It doesn’t support the traditional online shopping experience of adding multiple products to a single ChatGPT multi item cart for a combined purchase.
Most customers expect to browse and add multiple items to a cart before checking out, similar to how they shop on any e-commerce site. The lack of a ChatGPT multi item cart makes the buying process less convenient and efficient, potentially leading to abandoned purchases and a less satisfying shopping journey.
While ChatGPT itself doesn’t offer this, specialized platforms like eesel AI are built for comprehensive e-commerce. They connect to your product catalogs and backend systems, enabling a full customer journey experience that implicitly handles complex orders and customer needs beyond a simple ChatGPT multi item cart.
The single-item focus means that once a purchase is made, the smooth chat experience breaks down. Customers needing support for order status or returns have to leave the chat and use traditional channels, as the AI isn’t integrated to handle post-sale inquiries for a ChatGPT multi item cart or even single items beyond the purchase.
ChatGPT is a generalist AI, excellent for conversations but not deeply integrated with specific e-commerce backend systems. In contrast, specialized AI commerce solutions are designed from the ground up to connect with your inventory, customer data, and help centers, allowing for complex actions like managing a ChatGPT multi item cart and providing detailed support.
While a ChatGPT multi item cart would be a significant improvement, it wouldn’t solve all limitations. True "agentic commerce" requires the AI to manage the entire customer lifecycle, including pre-sale questions, real-time order updates, and post-sale support, which necessitates deeper integration and brand-specific knowledge access beyond just a cart.
