Keynote - what ChatGPT Shopping means for retailers
OpenAI are taking steps towards true conversational commerce, and AI hardware
We just returned from a trip to Europe, as keynote speakers for a retailer conference. One topic we presented on was the recent release by OpenAI of ChatGPT Shopping, a new native eCommerce experience built into ChatGPT.
Jason and Tim strutting their stuff!
ChatGPT Shopping is currently being rolled out globally. When it displays as intended, after doing a product “search” you will be displayed with a product carousel and pricing, just like an eCommerce site or app.
For now, the product carousel links to a featured retailers site to complete the purchase. But it’s rumoured (and expected) that OpenAI will extend ChatGPT Shopping to accept payment directly within the app. This has already been implemented by ChatGPT rival Perplexity, with their Perplexity Shopping (US only) feature.
Why this matters for retailers
ChatGPT is the fastest growing consumer app of all time, and shoppers are rapidly migrating their Google searches to ChatGPT, and this includes product research and product comparison. If ChatGPT ‘close the loop’ and allow purchase directly within the app (perhaps with Shopify Shop Pay), retailers will be relegated to the role of fulfilment. ChatGPT will own the customer relationship, the purchase history and the ability to personalise results even further based on this data.
Some retailers will win in this scenario. If you are lucky (or skilful) enough to have your products appear in the ChatGPT carousel, just like ranking highly in Google the sales will follow. Other retailers will lose both in sales and relevance to consumers.
The time to act is now
With 9m monthly Australian users, ChatGPT has similar popularity to Amazon, who have 7.9m Australian shoppers p/a. With one wave of their magic AI wand ChatGPT will be a serious player in the online shopping scene.
OpenAI now reports over a billion registered users globally, if they truly lean into online retail, ChatGPT could potentially grab 10% of eCommerce market share in Australia, like Amazon before it. Or more.
What’s more, we predict that other chatbots will follow ChatGPT and Perplexity into offering shopping. At this weeks’ Google I/O event they announced multiple AI-powered features for online shoppers, including a a new conversational commerce experience in Google Search. Presumably this will follow into their Gemini chatbot in the near future.
For retailers who choose not to ignore this coming wave, they should;
Stay abreast of the latest changes in conversational commerce
Optimise their products to appear in ChatGPT
Incorporate ChatGPT-like conversational assistants into their own eCommerce sites (to prevent users from bouncing to ChatGPT for a chat interface)
If you are a retailer and would like to learn more about how Time Under Tension can help, please reach out for a no obligation discussion.
Further reading
We were recently interviewed about conversational commerce and ChatGPT Shopping in both The Age and InsideRetail, you can read more here:
OpenAI acquire “io”
Just announced today, OpenAI's USD$6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive's hardware company io is a huge move for AI hardware. About 55 engineers are joining OpenAI, while Ive's LoveFrom will handle all design work across hardware and software.
Ive's critique of existing AI hardware like the Humane Pin as "very poor products" highlights the design gap in this space. His team has been working with Altman for two years on what they're calling a completely new category of device, planned to launch in 2026.
This partnership addresses a real problem we've seen - brilliant AI technology trapped in poorly designed hardware experiences. Combining OpenAI's capabilities with Ive's design expertise could finally deliver AI hardware that people actually want to use.
The fact that Altman is already calling their prototype "the coolest piece of technology the world will have ever seen" suggests they're onto something genuinely different. Given Ive's track record, this could be the breakthrough moment for AI hardware.
