ChatGPT expands into e-commerce

Global – OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT’s capabilities with new in-chat shopping features designed to streamline the online purchase journey. From 28 April 2025, users worldwide will be able to search for fashion, beauty, home and tech products directly through the AI chatbot, receiving image-led product recommendations, pricing comparisons and retailer links within the chat window.

Unlike traditional search engines or sponsored social ads, these product suggestions are selected by ChatGPT based on user intent, not paid placements. OpenAI positions this as a new, trusted format for ‘conversational shopping’.

The AI will also save individual preferences over time to personalise future recommendations – although this won’t be launched in stricter privacy markets such as the UK and EEA initially. With plans to onboard retailers via a product feed interest form, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a direct-to-consumer marketplace alternative, compressing the research, review and purchase phases into one seamless interaction.

In EQ-Commerce, we unpacked how AI chatbots have ushered in a new era of conversational commerce and foresaw the importance of chatbots and conversational engagement for the future of e-commerce.