- Walmart has debuted the AI-powered Instant Checkout through ChatGPT
- The feature enables Walmart shopping via ChatGPT conversations
- Users can talk to AI about meals they might be making, new products, products they need more of
ChatGPT has begun helping Walmart shoppers find and buy items through a conversation. OpenAI and the retail giant announced that customers can start making purchases through ChatGPT using a new feature called Instant Checkout, skipping the typical website navigation process entirely.
The companies tout Instant Checkout as ideal for those who need to buy items for a meal quickly or who notice they’ve run out of something like paper towels. Instead of going through the Walmart website, they will be able to tell ChatGPT what they need, with the option to ask for suggestions on what products to get, what meal to make and the ingredients needed. AI uses Walmart’s catalog to confirm the order, and the Instant Checkout system that ChatGPT already uses to allow purchases on Shopify and Instacart will handle the payment.
This “agent trade,” as the announcement calls it, is supposed to lure people who want to leverage ChatGPT’s prowess to carry Walmart’s own logistics and pricing. It could mark a big step forward in how AI is changing people’s shopping habits.
“We’re excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday shopping a little simpler,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. “It’s just one way AI will help people every day as we work together.”
Instant Checkout is one way OpenAI is trying to make ChatGPT more of an e-commerce tool. It works with Apple Pay, Google Pay and credit cards via Stripe. Until now, however, it has primarily been used for ordering from smaller traders and digital storefronts. Walmart is by far its largest partner to date.
The partnership also pushes Walmart deeper into the AI arms race against rivals like Amazon and Google. Amazon has quite a few AI tools aimed at improving the shopping experience, from Alexa voice commands to its AI assistant, Rufus. Meanwhile, Google offers AI not only to suggest purchases, but also to let you try on clothes virtually.
Walmart uses AI in several capacities already, including for customer service. Sparky, the in-house AI assistant, helps with product recommendations and tracks inventory to help reduce wait times when people seek help. The ChatGPT integration makes the connection between Walmart’s data and the customer even shorter. You can tell ChatGPT you’re running out of school snacks and receive a curated list of kid-friendly groceries and order the item in seconds.
“For many years now, e-commerce experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That’s about to change,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement.
“A native AI experience is coming that is multimedia, personal and contextual. We are racing towards the more pleasant and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships, including this important step with OpenAI.”
However, don’t expect Walmart or other stores to lose their websites and screen-based shopping approach tomorrow. But if experiments in conversational commerce like this pay off, they could at least join the list of online shopping methods. Conversational shopping portals may become as common as Amazon and Google storefronts with AI-delivered responses built-in.
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