"OpenAI quietly killed Instant Checkout in March. The official story, according to OpenAI's blog post, was that the checkout feature "did not offer the level of flexibility that we aspire to provide." The unofficial story is that OpenAI and Shopify were unprepared for the level of complexity checking out requires. Fewer than 30 of Shopify's millions of merchants ever went live."
"As we entered 2026, the retail industry's newest buzzword was "agentic commerce," which refers to AI agents shopping autonomously on the user's behalf. "Nobody has figured it out, but everyone has FOMO," says Emily Pfeiffer, principal analyst at Forrester, who covers AI and commerce. "Everyone is prematurely rushing to market.""
"According to McKinsey, AI-driven commerce could generate $1 trillion in U.S. revenue and up to $5 trillion globally by 2030. Last year, as AI became the fastest-adopted technology in history, AI companies realized they needed to turn their attention to commerce. There's a lot of money hanging in the balance."
OpenAI and Shopify launched Instant Checkout, promising seamless in-app shopping through ChatGPT, but quietly discontinued it in March after failing to deliver. The official explanation cited insufficient flexibility, but the reality revealed inadequate preparation for checkout complexity. Fewer than 30 of Shopify's millions of merchants actually went live. As AI becomes the fastest-adopted technology, companies recognize commerce as a major revenue opportunity, with AI-driven commerce potentially generating $1-5 trillion globally by 2030. The industry's new focus is agentic commerce, where AI agents autonomously shop on users' behalf. However, companies are rushing to market prematurely without fully understanding the technology, as evidenced by the failed Instant Checkout rollout.
Read at Fast Company
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