These partnerships are laying the groundwork for a world in which autonomous AI agents shop on consumers’ behalf, a trend referred to as "agentic” commerce. — REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The payment-processing company Stripe Inc. is working with OpenAI to allow US shoppers to buy products through ChatGPT, the popular artificial-intelligence tool.
The feature is being rolled out to let ChatGPT users purchase goods from Etsy Inc., with plans to soon extend it to Shopify Inc., Stripe said in a statement Monday. The goal is for ChatGPT to act like a digital personal shopper, Emily Glassberg Sands, Stripe’s head of data and AI, said in an interview.
Etsy shares rose over 16% after the announcement, the biggest jump since early 2022, while Shopify rose more than 6%.
The pact marks an early step by OpenAI to use its chatbot – which attracts 700 million weekly active users – to expand into the online-commerce business. Purchases will be facilitated by Stripe’s payment technology.
"We have long helped businesses sell everywhere,” Stripe’s Sands said, describing her company’s options on the web, through mobile apps and in person. The future is "through AI agents, which is really the new wave.”
The Stripe-OpenAI tie-up comes on the heels of a similar one between PayPal Holdings Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google earlier this month. Those two are combining their payments and AI tools in online transactions.
These partnerships are laying the groundwork for a world in which autonomous AI agents shop on consumers’ behalf, a trend referred to as "agentic” commerce.
The agents are chatbots like ChatGPT, which can become almost like an online storefront, rather than shoppers visiting merchants’ own websites. While that idea could represent a new sales channel, merchants also have concerns about a middleman coming between them and their customers. Large retailers have also made their own investments in tools like Walmart Inc.’s Sparky, an AI assistant that makes recommendations to consumers.
Sands compared the current dynamic to one many years ago, when major brands resisted the Internet after investing in their brick-and-mortar stores. Eventually, she argues, they will have to come around to AI tools, too.
"I’m sure Chanel was peeved when online shopping started,” she said. – Bloomberg
