Saanya Ojha - This week, OpenAI launched Instant Checkout, collapsing discovery, decision, and transaction into a single conversation. No more “browse → cart → checkout.” It’s “say the thing → own the thing.”

This week, OpenAI launched Instant Checkout, collapsing discovery, decision, and transaction into a single conversation. No more “browse → cart → checkout.” It’s “say the thing → own the thing.” Under the hood, it’s powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), co-developed with Stripe, which handles payment securely while letting merchants keep control of fulfillment, customer data, and the existential dread of shipping logistics. For now, it’s limited to Etsy sellers and single-item purchases. But Shopify’s in the pipeline, multi-item carts are coming, and international expansion isn’t far off. Think of this as the starter pistol. It’s easy to get carried away imagining the future. So let’s do that: - Your calendar buys the gift before you remember the party - Your fridge notices you’re low on oat milk and orders a refill - not from the cheapest vendor, but the one aligned with your values (organic, minority-owned) - Your AI negotiates a new phone plan, scans hidden fees, and switches you automatically - Your kids grow up thinking “shopping” is something old people did, like waiting in line at the bank. The endpoint isn’t faster checkout. It’s commerce collapsing into cognition. Here’s how I see it: (1) The Interface Becomes the Intermediary OpenAI just muscled into the middle of the transaction - not as a store, but as the interface to all stores. Amazon, Google Shopping, Shopify fought to own the storefront. OpenAI’s fighting to make the storefront irrelevant. If they succeed, we’ll see a platform power shift with familiar risks: discovery bias, fairness, monetization pressure. OpenAI swears it ranks listings “purely on relevance”. History suggests that will stay true… right up until Sponsored Results v1.0. (2) New Monetization Playbook Until now, OpenAI monetized via subscriptions and enterprise. They generated ~$4.3B revenue in 1H25, about 16% more than all of last year. Instant Checkout could unlock something far bigger: a slice of global commerce. It turns ChatGPT into a monetizable intent router that doesn’t just answer questions but closes the sale. Reuters noted OpenAI plans to take a cut when merchants fulfill through ACP. Given ChatGPT’s large user base and user engagement, even a modest commission on a fraction of purchases could scale massively. (3) From Brand Loyalty to Agent Preference In the old world, brands fought for customer loyalty. In the new world, they’ll fight for agent preference. Price, availability, ethics, carbon footprint, return policy - all become structured data feeding a ranking model behind the scenes. If your brand isn’t machine-readable, it’s invisible. The CMO of the future won’t optimize media spend - they’ll optimize for prompts. The future isn’t “voice shopping” or “buy buttons in chat.” That’s just plumbing. The future is delegated will: where you express desires, and agents convert them into transactions, logistics, and outcomes. No friction. No funnel. No follow-through.

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