AI Agent Shopping Dream Shattered? Walmart and OpenAI Exposed with Poor Conversion Rates, Emergency Strategy Adjustment

AI Agentic Commerce is seen as the key entry point for the next wave of e-commerce revolution. OpenAI and Walmart have also teamed up to launch the “Instant Checkout” service, attempting to allow consumers to complete shopping directly within ChatGPT. However, actual data shows that this model underperforms expectations, with conversion rates significantly lower than traditional e-commerce processes. Facing the gap between user behavior and shopping habits, both parties are rapidly adjusting their strategies, shifting toward embedded AI and multi-platform integration to redefine AI’s role in e-commerce.

(Walmart partners with OpenAI to create AI shopping services, WMT stock hits record high)

“Instant Checkout” performs poorly: conversion rate three times lower, raising doubts about AI direct shopping feasibility

Last year, OpenAI collaborated with retailers like Walmart and Etsy to launch the “Instant Checkout” feature, enabling users to purchase products directly within ChatGPT. Walmart listed about 200,000 items at the time, allowing consumers to input delivery and payment info in conversation to place orders directly.

However, sources familiar with Walmart told Wired that the conversion rate for this model is only one-third of the traditional process of redirecting to the website. Daniel Danker, senior executive responsible for product and design, openly stated that the overall performance of this feature was disappointing, indicating that the vision of AI fully taking over the e-commerce process still faces significant practical challenges.

Why did it fail? “Single-item checkout” does not match user shopping habits

Danker analyzed that the biggest problem with “Instant Checkout” is forcing consumers to check out item by item, which differs from the common habit of adding items to a shopping cart and then checking out once. This mode results in users receiving multiple packages separately, reducing the overall shopping experience.

Additionally, the system struggles to support common e-commerce features like “bundled sales” and “cross-recommendations.” For example, when purchasing a TV, consumers often buy accessories like HDMI cables simultaneously, but the AI’s single-checkout mechanism cannot effectively integrate such needs. These factors make the overall experience feel unnatural and incomplete, further lowering conversion rates.

Strategy shift: Walmart embeds Sparky AI into ChatGPT and Gemini

Facing bottlenecks with the instant checkout service, Walmart and OpenAI have decided to pivot to a new model. Going forward, Walmart will integrate its own AI assistant, Sparky, directly into ChatGPT, and plans to introduce Google Gemini to create a “shopping assistant within the chatbot.”

In this new experience, users can log into their Walmart accounts and synchronize their shopping carts across app, website, and chat interfaces, allowing for cross-time shopping and unified checkout. This approach more closely aligns with actual shopping behavior, enabling consumers to continuously adjust their needs in conversation without re-entering payment and delivery info.

Redefining AI’s role in e-commerce: from “automatic ordering” back to “assistive helper”

This shift also reflects an adjustment in OpenAI’s strategy. Officially, they state that future efforts will focus more on helping users research and make decisions about products, rather than leading the transaction process, returning checkout control to merchants.

Data shows that ChatGPT has already brought Walmart about twice the new customer acquisition compared to traditional search engines, and users who utilize Sparky spend approximately 35% more per order. However, industry insiders admit that “full automation of shopping” remains overly idealistic; consumers in categories like fashion and home goods still prefer to have options and exploration during their shopping experience.

Today, AI’s role in e-commerce is shifting from transaction executor to intelligent shopping assistant.

(AI coding assistance causes mishaps? Amazon experiences system failures four times in a week, executives urgently hold review meetings)

This article about AI agentic shopping dreams shattered? Walmart and OpenAI reveal poor conversion rates and are urgently adjusting strategies first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.