OpenAI is attempting to shift ChatGPT from a &#34;search and conversation tool&#34; to a &#34;transaction gateway&#34; commercial path, but is being pulled back to reality by low conversion rates and insufficient merchant participation: the click-through rate for the product &#34;buy&#34; button is less than 1%, far below the typical e-commerce website level of 3% to 4%, directly impacting its commission monetization plan.
According to The Information, OpenAI confirmed last Wednesday that it is scaling back its attempts to directly list and sell products within ChatGPT's chat checkout. Sources say this scaling back occurred after limited merchant adoption and minimal actual transactions.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is shifting its focus to the &#34;ChatGPT apps&#34; model, hoping that retailers and platform providers will &#34;open stores&#34; within ChatGPT in the form of independent applications, combined with the checkout technology developed in collaboration with Stripe to complete transactions.
However, currently only Instacart supports direct checkout within the ChatGPT app, while most other scenarios still require redirecting to the merchant's website, leaving the transaction chain and experience unclosed.
Partner attitudes are also more cautious. Shopify has confirmed it will not launch its own ChatGPT app, and ChatGPT users will revert to the merchant's own site for checkout. After scaling back direct shopping, OpenAI is focusing more on selling ads within ChatGPT, with its first batch of ads launched in February, but it has not significantly scaled up.
<h2>Shifting to ChatGPT apps: Difficult to find entry points, checkout capabilities still limited</h2>
The ChatGPT apps were launched only a few months ago and currently cover about 100 consumer companies, including Uber and Instacart. However, &#34;whether users can find them&#34; is itself a barrier: users need to manually enable the app first and then invoke it in conversation using commands like &#34;@Instacart.&#34;
According to The Information, OpenAI has indicated to some commercial companies that it may proactively recommend relevant apps based on conversation content in the future, but the best approach has not yet been decided.
A more direct limitation lies in the transaction phase. OpenAI states that ChatGPT apps will provide the checkout technology designed for original shopping services in collaboration with Stripe, but currently only Instacart has implemented direct checkout within the ChatGPT app.
OpenAI's developer documentation also suggests that developers redirect users to the retailer's own site to complete payment, noting that the ChatGPT checkout feature is limited to certain markets and is not available to all users.
<h2>Low conversion and exposure rates: Users &#34;see little and click even less&#34;</h2>
According to The Information, when a list of purchasable products appears, the proportion of users clicking the purchase button is less than 1%, significantly lower than the average conversion rate of 3% to 4% for e-commerce websites.
** This means that even if OpenAI hopes to generate revenue through &#34;transaction-based commissions,&#34; the prospects for scaling are limited.
Product exposure is also relatively low. AI search marketing startup Profound tracked this feature from September to January and found that among approximately 2 million shopping-related keywords, product listings appeared in search results only about 9% of the time, with even lower ratios when the keywords involved specific brands.
Josh Blyskal, head of research and strategy at Profound, stated that intuitively, users mentioning specific models like &#34;Dell XPS 15&#34; should be closer to purchase intent, but product displays are more often found in &#34;evaluative questions.&#34;
An OpenAI spokesperson responded that e-commerce-related queries are difficult to clearly define, and the company can observe shopping intent across various keywords.
<h2>Merchants and platforms calculate: Development costs invested, but returns remain unclear</h2>
For merchants, the value proposition of ChatGPT apps is still in the validation phase. Even without relying on in-app checkout, users can search for products in ChatGPT and jump to the merchant's website to make purchases via links.
An OpenAI spokesperson stated, in-app checkout allows merchants more control and flexibility over the purchasing experience, but it also means retailers need to bear more development and maintenance work to build the &#34;store.&#34;
Partner selection has shown divergence. Etsy was one of the first companies to express intentions to sell through ChatGPT checkout, and is currently planning to launch a ChatGPT app, but a spokesperson said there is no clear timeline yet.
Shopify has clearly stated it will not provide its own ChatGPT app and will keep the checkout process on the merchant's website, further weakening OpenAI's potential to form a unified transaction loop within the app.
<h2>Monetization route adjustment: From commission setbacks to increased advertising, the ecosystem still needs to be refined</h2>
The Information reported that OpenAI initially hoped to monetize by charging merchants a certain percentage fee for each purchase, but after limited merchant adoption and transactions, it chose to scale back direct shopping within chat.
With a strategic pivot, OpenAI is directing more resources toward ChatGPT's advertising business, having launched its first batch of ads in February, but has not yet significantly expanded.
Retailers are also reshaping their collaboration with ChatGPT. A Walmart executive stated at last week's investor meeting that the company is preparing to shift away from directly listing products in ChatGPT, calling it a &#34;preliminary experiment.&#34;
Walmart plans to more directly integrate its Sparky AI shopping assistant into ChatGPT next month, allowing logged-in users to bundle products in their shopping cart and choose to check out in either ChatGPT or Walmart's own app. This type of &#34;retailer-controlled experience&#34; is becoming a realistic alternative path in OpenAI's e-commerce narrative
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OpenAI's e-commerce attempts have encountered setbacks, with a purchase conversion rate of less than 1% within ChatGPT, far below the 3%-4% of e-commerce websites. As a result, OpenAI has scaled back its direct sales efforts within ChatGPT and shifted its focus to the "ChatGPT apps" model, encouraging merchants to set up shop in the form of independent applications. However, users need to manually enable the apps, and the checkout capabilities remain limited, with partners taking a cautious stance; Shopify has confirmed it will not launch a ChatGPT app. OpenAI is also attempting to monetize through advertising, but the scale has not yet significantly expanded

- OpenAI is adjusting its commercial approach for ChatGPT from a direct shopping tool to focusing on ChatGPT apps due to low conversion rates, with purchasing button clicks below 1%.  
- The initial goal of generating revenue through transaction commissions has been impacted by low merchant adoption and sales, prompting a shift towards advertising, with early ads launched in February.  
- While around 100 companies are currently part of the ChatGPT apps, only Instacart allows direct in-app checkout, limiting the overall user experience and the effectiveness of the platform.

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OpenAI's e-commerce dream suffers a harsh reality blow: purchase conversion rate below 1%, merchants watch coldly, users hardly make purchases