Walmart is pulling out of OpenAI’s instant payment feature within ChatGPT after internal data showed that conversion rates were nearly three times lower than transactions completed on its website, Wired reported.
This shift represents an early stress test for the agent shopping model that has caught the industry’s attention at companies a partner In October. According to CNBCOpenAI is now reworking Instant Checkout in favor of a more merchant-controlled architecture, reflecting growing concern among retailers about handing over the transaction layer to AI platforms.
Chat-based payment cannot be made
As PYMNTS reported, Walmart join Instant Payment in October to allow ChatGPT users to purchase nearly 200,000 items without leaving the chat interface. OpenAI built the system using Stripe through what it describes as a proxy commerce protocol, aiming to pass order details, payment credentials and shipping preferences in a seamless delivery process.
The experience was not as expected. Daniel DankerWalmart’s Executive Vice President of AI, Product and Design Acceleration, He said Wired reported that conversion rates within ChatGPT only reached about a third of Walmart’s original channels and called the experience “unsatisfactory.”
CNBC reported that the feature offered a limited selection of products months after launch and did not always display current item information. The interface design created additional friction. Walmart excluded high-interest purchases like TVs because the chat flow couldn’t support collection and accessory recommendations. The linear format of a single inquiry did not match the multi-item basket behavior that drives order value on Walmart’s platforms.
Shoppers were also hesitant at the checkout. Customers who typically complete purchases within the Walmart ecosystem encountered an unfamiliar payment flow within a third-party interface. OpenAI “underestimated how difficult it is to enable transactions,” Gartner analyst Bob Hito told CNBC.
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Walmart is moving Sparky to ChatGPT
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Walmart is now replacing Instant Checkout with a model that maintains control within its own systems. Walmart will soon deploy its internal assistant, Sparky, within ChatGPT. Danker said the company plans to expand a similar integration with Google Gemini.
Under this architecture, users interact with Sparky within ChatGPT but log in directly to their Walmart accounts. Walmart maintains control of the platforms. The company syncs shopping carts across its website, mobile app, and ChatGPT, allowing purchases to reflect ongoing shopping behavior rather than a single session. Walmart continues to run the entire checkout process on its own infrastructure.
Information I mentioned This shift complicates the strategy of the OpenAI Foundation, which initially positioned the platform as having a transactional layer. The revised model transfers control to traders. OpenAI provides discovery and distribution, while retailers maintain cart, customer identity, loyalty data, and transaction economics.
Early internal data He appears The new model has better performance. Sparky within ChatGPT converts at about 70% of the Walmart.com rate, which is a huge improvement over Instant Pay, though the numbers are still preliminary. Danker told Wired that Walmart is bringing its store directly to the customer instead of funneling customers through a disconnected checkout flow.
Retailers are taking back control
Walmart’s disclosure provides one of the first publicly announced performance benchmarks from a major retailer testing AI-driven commerce. The findings are already impacting how the broader ecosystem approaches AI shopping.
Shopify told CNBC that it will no longer support native payment within ChatGPT and will instead route transactions back to merchant storefronts. Etsy confirmed to CNBC that the company is building a custom ChatGPT app to maintain control over its shopping experience. OpenAI said it was focusing on product discovery and search, where user engagement was stronger than completing a transaction.
Amazon is taking a different tack by keeping AI commerce closely integrated within its own ecosystem. The company continues to expand tools like the Rufus shopping assistant and the “Buy for Me” agent, while also rolling out features like “Shop Direct,” which allows customers to browse and buy items outside of Amazon’s primary marketplace. Instead of relying on third-party AI interfaces, Amazon is integrating discovery, recommendations, and transaction flows within its own platform, enhancing control over the entire shopping journey.
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