OpenAI Could See ChatGPT Partnering With Shopify Following Microsoft’s Copilot Merchant Program Launch

Artificial intelligence — and more specifically, its incorporation into the retail business — has been making headlines this year, growing in scope and capability with each passing month.

Now, according to a report from The Tech Outlook, it appears that OpenAI may be preparing to incorporate AI-driven shopping via Shopify through its popular ChatGPT tool.

“According to the new strings of codes that have been found on ChatGPT’s public web bundle, additions like ‘buy_now,’ price and shipping fields, product-offer ratings, and ‘shopify_checkout_url’ can be spotted. This has pointed out that OpenAI is probably integrating a purchase flow onto ChatGPT, and this is likely to be out of a formal partnership with the e-commerce brand — Shopify, and not simply a generic affiliate link,” The Tech Outlook’s Sidharth Joseph wrote.

The incorporation of Shopify into OpenAI’s ChatGPT would turn the GenAI tool into an all-in-one shopping experience, with the capability of delivering personalized and mostly pertinent product recommendations instantly. With customer information already being stored by Shopify, those who have already used the service could end up completing a purchase cycle in a matter of moments, from initial query to checkout.

Joseph suggested that since the new strings of code related to Shopify integration into newer iterations of ChatGPT are already present in production assets, it seems plausible that this teased partnership is about to come to fruition.

OpenAI, ChatGPT Partnership With Shopify Echoes Microsoft’s Copilot Merchant Program’s Launch

It appears that OpenAI may have been (slightly) beaten to the punch by tech giant Microsoft in this regard.

On April 18, Microsoft announced the launch of its Copilot Merchant Program. Copilot, Microsoft’s proprietary AI assistant, is now charged with acting as a personal shopping assistant on top of its other duties.

“Interested in improving your customers’ shopping experience? With Copilot, customers have a personal shopper at their service, helping guide them towards the right items and best deals. From price alerts to instant suggestions on similar products, and check-out directly within the Copilot app, you can unlock frictionless shopping for your customers by joining Copilot’s Merchant Program,” a blog post detailing the launch stated.

“Integrate your shopping experience with Copilot to help your brand gain visibility, acquire more customers and generate sales, all from a convenient centralized location with AI support at every step. Once you’re in the Copilot Merchant Program you can also share key product specifications with us, ensuring we have up-to-date details on all your items, so that they are suggested to customers properly,” Microsoft added.