BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Walmart has announced a partnership with OpenAI that will allow customers to make purchases directly through ChatGPT, marking the retailer's latest push into artificial intelligence-powered commerce.
The collaboration will enable Walmart and Sam's Club shoppers to browse products and complete transactions within ChatGPT using a feature called Instant Checkout. Customers can describe their shopping needs conversationally, and the large language model will facilitate purchases that Walmart will fulfill.
OpenAI describes the feature as a "digital personal shopper" and says orders, payment and fulfillment are all handled by the merchant. It already has a partnership with Etsy and said other merchants that use the Shopify platform, like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori, will be available on Instant Checkout soon.
"For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change," said Doug McMillon, Walmart's president and chief executive, in a news release announcing the collaboration. "There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual."
Other retailers have introduced AI into their shopping experiences, like Amazon's Rufus personal shopper chatbot.
The partnership represents what Walmart calls "agentic commerce" -- AI that anticipates customer needs rather than simply responding to search queries. The technology aims to help shoppers with tasks ranging from meal planning to restocking household items.
Walmart already uses AI across its operations, including enhancing product catalogs and customer service. The company said the technology has reduced fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks and cut customer care resolution times by up to 40%.
The companies did not specify when the shopping feature will become available to customers. CNN reports it is set to launch sometime this fall, followed by a rollout of Sam's Club items.