Going forward, U.S. consumers will be able to purchase Walmart products directly from OpenAI's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT.
Walmart said on the 14th (local time) that it formed a partnership with OpenAI to allow its customers to complete Walmart purchases directly within the ChatGPT platform. Going forward, consumers will be able to buy desired Walmart products on ChatGPT using the "Instant Checkout" feature.
The company explained, "Whether it's meal planning, restocking household essentials, or discovering new products, customers can simply chat with ChatGPT and purchase, and Walmart will handle the rest."
Doug McMillon, Walmart's chair and chief executive officer (CEO), said, "For years, the e-commerce shopping experience has consisted of a search box and long product lists," adding, "Now that is changing, and a multimedia-based, personalized, context-aware AI experience is on the way."
OpenAI unveiled the "Instant Checkout" feature in ChatGPT late last month. The company said the feature would first be available for single products from the U.S. e-commerce platform Etsy and the Canada-based e-commerce platform Shopify. Walmart did not disclose specific contract terms for this collaboration, but the "Instant Checkout" feature is expected to operate in a model where OpenAI collects a fee on completed transactions, becoming a new revenue source for the company.
OpenAI plans to add a feature that lets users put multiple items into a ChatGPT cart and pay at once, and to expand these shopping features beyond the United States.