SAN FRANCISCO – OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a virtual merchant and partnering with Etsy and Shopify. What does it mean right now and in the future? Is it a big deal, no deal, or somewhere in between? We asked the experts.
“In my opinion, this is not a big deal—yet. Even though this is a cool idea and concept, this is not going to be the way that people are going to be shopping right now. Even someone like me who pays for every single AI LLM and tool out there—I do not make purchases through this or even Perplexity’s shopping—and I absolutely LOVE Perplexity. I do certain things in certain places: Amazon for shopping; ChatGPT for help with things; and a task manager for tasks.
“Will this eventually be the standard and adopted by the masses? Yes. But that day is not today. When ChatGPT is even more embedded in the lives of humans, this will become the standard. This is similar to how Amazon’s Rufus AI assistant is actually really good, but not being used by as many people as there are Amazon shoppers—because it is not the standard way of searching. It is optional. Once something becomes the standard default, people will learn to love and use the tool out of pure necessity.” — John Aspinall, CEO and founder, Aspi
“My knee-jerk reaction is I know how particular some people can get, especially when they use agentic shopping with product features and AI. My primary worry is what will happen when the AI ends up recommending the customer buy a listing and the listing does not have that feature. It is just a closely related feature that they were looking for due to their conversation, and then the AI just figured this was the closest result—but it did not have all the features the customer was asking for. That gap in customer satisfaction will lead to an increase in returns, and sellers will then have to pay for the AI’s shortcomings.”
— Charles Chakkalo, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based entrepreneur (www.CharlesTheSeller.com)
“It’s ambitious for ChatGPT, but given that ChatGPT is predominantly a text-based interface, it’s going to be difficult to compete with Google Shopping, which has been established for years.” — Cardy Chung, CEO and founder, StreetPricer
“If this announcement comes as a surprise to you, then you haven’t been paying attention. It was always a matter of when, not if, GPT would start facilitating direct checkout from chat. Etsy and Shopify are both small fish in a big ocean of retail opportunity; call me when GPT gets the likes of Walmart and Target on the hook.”
— Shannon Curley, director of Marketing and Growth at Tactical Logistic Solutions and head of her own consulting business
“As conversational AI evolves from a place of discovery to a place of purchase, the opportunity for brands is enormous. Consumers will soon be able to move from asking ChatGPT what to buy to actually completing that purchase in the same conversation. Brands that understand and optimize for this new buying journey will be the ones that win the next era of ecommerce. The key for brands will be how to optimize and grow on various AI platforms. Last week, we launched our GEO Scorecard, which gives brands a clear, data-driven view into how they’re showing up in these AI-driven experiences and the specific actions they can take to improve visibility, ranking, and conversion in chat. The opportunity for brands is huge in the new world of conversational commerce.” — Rob Hahn, chief operations officer, Pattern, Lehi, Utah
“We saw potential and signs of this for the last couple of months, but it was still pretty shocking to see the official rollout. OpenAI came for Google, and now it’s coming for Amazon; e-commerce sellers must be ready to adapt for what may just be the next giant in e-commerce platforms.” — Josh Hall, owner and founder, Micromercial
“This is a little deal with big potential, or the opportunity to totally flop. The capabilities of a ChatGPT at finding the exact stuff you want to purchase is real. Using a tool like ChatGPT would help sort through a mess of things you don’t want and get you to the things you really want to buy quickly. However, ChatGPT has not been working on their user experience for shopping for the last X number of years like other large shopping sites. Sometimes it is fun to browse on Etsy for 20 min looking at all the possibilities. If that fun experience can be recreated in a ChatGPT chat I think we are in for a pivotal change in the way people shop. If not, this thing may just be an interesting idea that never goes anywhere.” — David Hewlett, owner, SmartLabels
“Using AI now for e-commerce is a natural pathway. This shift could mark a strategic push to monetize ChatGPT by competing with Amazon and Google for transaction fees in e-commerce. Very interesting, but I think it is just the beginning of this trend and using ChatGPT for solving problems with products.” — Mandeep Kaur, full-time Amazon FBA seller based in Vancouver, BC
“It’s definitely exciting, but everyone can calm down a bit. This is a great step toward true conversational commerce, but we’re still early. While tons of people use ChatGPT for business, the number of consumers actually discovering and buying products through it is still small. That said, smart brands should absolutely jump in now. Being an early mover means you’ll already be optimized and showing up when consumer behavior catches up, and it will.” — Andrew Maffettone, founder and CEO, BlueTuskr, West Chester, Pa.
“Testing ChatGPT on platforms like Etsy warms up the engines to compete directly with Amazon in product search. It took Amazon years to overtake first product searches on Google and now they face potential inbound, serious competition from the likes of OpenAI (for starters). This will be Amazon’s early opportunity to up its technology game and to reassert their digital shopping prominence. Otherwise there will be more people searching product videos on IG/ TikTok and fewer people getting the ball rolling on Amazon first.” — Chris McCabe, founder, ecommerceChris
“It’s a super exciting move. With ChatGPT powering billions of searches every day, this could completely reshape how shoppers discover products online. Google is crowded and noisy, but if your brand is ChatGPT-optimized, you’re at the front of the conversation. The wildcard is ranking: will it reward true quality or just whoever can game the system the way Amazon reviews often do? Either way, this is a moment sellers can’t afford to ignore.” — Dakota Morse, partner, Alt Group, Venice Beach, Calif.
“This integration marks a real turning point in how people shop. AI isn’t just answering questions anymore — it’s shortening the distance between discovery and purchase. For brands, that means less friction and more opportunity to convert intent into action. For consumers, it’s shopping that feels natural and personal. The retailers who lean in early and learn to optimize for these AI-driven buying journeys are the ones who will win big.”
— Wendi Mathis, Channel Key
“OpenAI’s move into commerce marks the next evolution of conversational shopping, where discovery and purchase converge seamlessly. For merchants, it is redefining the e-commerce playbook, making AI optimization essential for their products to be surfaced, recommended, and bought across marketplaces and within these new conversational storefronts.”
— Dani Nadel, president and COO, Feedvisor..
“Allowing people to buy directly in ChatGPT means Etsy’s inventory surfaces in a new, AI-centric purchase path. If someone is chatting with ChatGPT and asks, ‘Where can I get a hand-stitched leather journal?’, the AI can show Etsy sellers immediately with buy buttons. That extends Etsy’s reach beyond search engines or Etsy’s own app/site. It helps Etsy compete with behemoths who are also pushing into AI commerce (Amazon, Shopify + AI tools, etc.).
“Being integrated into a trusted AI agent gives Etsy a modern storefront presence. It’s a way to be in the mix when ‘AI shopping’ becomes a norm. More transaction data directly flowing through this integration gives Etsy richer analytics: Which types of prompts lead to purchases?; What categories convert well in conversational commerce?; What are the seasonal/temporal patterns? That insight is gold for product strategy, marketing, and inventory planning.” — Brent Wees, certified AI trainer and marketing strategist
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