OpenAI's e-commerce dream faces a harsh reality: purchase conversion rate below 1%, merchants remain indifferent, and users hardly make a purchase

OpenAI is attempting to shift ChatGPT from a “search and conversation tool” toward a commercial “transaction gateway,” but low conversion rates and insufficient merchant engagement are pulling it back to reality: product “Buy” button click-through rate is less than 1%, far below the typical 3% to 4% on e-commerce sites, directly impacting its revenue-sharing monetization plan.

According to The Information, OpenAI confirmed last Wednesday that it is reducing its in-chat checkout trials for directly listing and selling products within ChatGPT. Insiders say this contraction occurred after limited merchant adoption and few actual transactions.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is shifting focus to the “ChatGPT apps” model, hoping that retailers and platform providers can “set up shop” within ChatGPT as standalone apps, then use its jointly developed checkout technology with Stripe to complete transactions.

Currently, only Instacart supports direct checkout within ChatGPT apps; most other scenarios still require users to jump to merchant websites, and the transaction process and experience are not yet seamless.

Partner attitudes are also more cautious. Shopify has confirmed it will not launch its own ChatGPT app, and ChatGPT users will be redirected to merchants’ own sites for checkout. After scaling back direct shopping, OpenAI is focusing more on selling ads within ChatGPT, with its first ads launched in February, but without significant expansion yet.

Shifting to ChatGPT apps: hard to find the entry point, limited checkout capabilities

Launched only a few months ago, ChatGPT apps currently cover about 100 consumer companies, including Uber and Instacart. But “being discoverable by users” is itself a barrier: users must manually enable the app first, then invoke it in conversation, e.g., by mentioning “@Instacart”.

According to The Information, OpenAI has told some businesses that it may in the future proactively recommend relevant apps based on conversation content, but no final decision has been made.

A more direct limitation lies in the transaction process. OpenAI states that ChatGPT apps will offer its checkout technology designed with Stripe for original shopping services, but currently only Instacart has achieved direct in-app checkout.

OpenAI’s developer documentation also advises developers to redirect users to retailers’ own sites to complete payments, noting that ChatGPT checkout features are limited to certain markets and not available to all users.

Low conversion and exposure: users see less, click even less

According to The Information, when product lists are available, less than 1% of users click the “Buy” button, significantly below the 3% to 4% conversion rate typical on e-commerce sites. This means that even if OpenAI aims to generate revenue through transaction commissions, large-scale prospects are limited.

Product exposure is also low. AI search marketing startup Profound tracked this feature from September to January and found that among about 2 million shopping-related prompts, product listings appeared in only about 9% of search results, with even lower rates when prompts involved specific brands.

Josh Blyskal, head of research and strategy at Profound, said that intuitively, users mentioning specific models like “Dell XPS 15” should be closer to purchase intent, but product displays more often appear in “evaluative questions”.

An OpenAI spokesperson responded that e-commerce-related queries are hard to clearly define, and the company observes shopping intent across various prompts.

Merchant and platform accounting: investing in development, unclear returns

For merchants, the value proposition of ChatGPT apps is still under validation. Even without relying on in-app checkout, users can search for products within ChatGPT and jump to merchant sites via links to purchase.

An OpenAI spokesperson said that in-app checkout gives merchants more control and flexibility over the shopping experience, but also requires them to bear more development and maintenance work to build their “storefronts”.

Partnerships are diverging. Etsy was among the earliest to express interest in selling via ChatGPT checkout and plans to launch its own ChatGPT app, but a spokesperson said there is no clear timeline yet.

Shopify has explicitly stated it will not offer its own ChatGPT app, leaving checkout to be handled on merchants’ websites, further reducing the likelihood of a unified in-app transaction loop for OpenAI.

Revenue model shift: from commission setbacks to ad expansion, ecosystem still evolving

The Information reports that OpenAI initially hoped to monetize by taking a cut from each purchase, but after limited merchant adoption and transaction volume, it scaled back its direct shopping within ChatGPT.

With strategic adjustments, OpenAI is now investing more in ChatGPT’s advertising business. Its first batch of ads launched in February, but without large-scale expansion so far.

Retailers are also reshaping how they work with ChatGPT. A Walmart executive said at an investor meeting last week that the company is shifting away from directly listing products in ChatGPT, calling it a “pilot experiment”.

Walmart plans to integrate its Sparky AI shopping assistant more directly into ChatGPT next month, allowing logged-in users to bundle items in their cart and choose to check out via ChatGPT or Walmart’s own app. This “retailer-controlled experience” is becoming a practical alternative to OpenAI’s e-commerce narrative.

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