OpenAI quietly pulled the plug on Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT and the internet immediately declared agentic commerce dead. But I think that conclusion misses the bigger picture. In this episode, a summary of my recent article for The Drum, I unpack why the failure of one implementation doesn’t mean the behavior itself is going away.

I share my own real-world experience making an agentic purchase through ChatGPT (spoiler: it didn’t exactly change my life), and then we explore why OpenAI’s checkout model struggled while similar AI-driven commerce experiences are already thriving elsewhere. From China’s fully integrated AI commerce ecosystems, to the emerging moves from Amazon and Google, I break down what’s actually happening beneath the headlines, and why retailers should still be paying very close attention.

This episode is sponsored by Mirakl Ads

Timeline

[00:00] – I share my first fully agentic purchase through ChatGPT and why the experience didn’t make me come back for more.

[01:02] – OpenAI deprioritizes Instant Checkout and sends transactions back to retailer sites. What actually happened behind the scenes?

[02:15] – Why a failed checkout model doesn’t mean agentic commerce itself is dead.

[03:00] – Alibaba’s AI assistant proves agentic shopping can work: when one company controls the AI, marketplace, payments, and logistics.

[04:18] – The TikTok Shop lesson: new shopping behaviors succeed when commerce feels like a natural extension of apps people already love.

[05:07] – Why AI-driven discovery still threatens the $60B retail media industry (even without instant checkout).

[08:19] – The shopping journey is already being rewired by AI, but the real challenge is the final 10%

Links & Resources

My full post on The Drum: OpenAI is killing Instant Checkout. Don't dance on the grave of agentic shopping yet
Read my related articles:
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OpenAI Killed Instant Checkout… But Agentic Shopping Isn’t Dead (What Retailers Need to Know Now)

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