Shopping and checking out while chatting with ChatGPT is now a thing. This means you can buy directly within the chatbot, without being redirected to a website or a shopping cart — or so they say.
ChatGPT has so far partnered with Shopify to enable Instant Checkout from Etsy and Shopify stores, with Walmart soon to follow. The AI tool can help you find cool products and then buy them on the spot.
OpenAI’s chatbot has such a rich knowledge of you and your preferences (if you sign in every time you use it and allow it to remember your conversations) that the hope is that it serves up the best products that are the most suitable for you faster than traditional search does.
I needed lipstick, and it was the perfect excuse to try out ChatGPT Instant Checkout. I was looking for a specific shade that isn’t easy to find in drugstores, so I wanted to see if ChatGPT could find and ship it without hassle. I also wanted to upgrade to a low-tox option.
ChatGPT Shop is available for all, from free to pro tiers, although it is limited to single-item checkout for now. Think TikTok Shop, sitting inside the most popular AI tool. Products are ranked based on availability, price and quality (determined via reviews). The Instant Checkout feature was just released last month.
I’ve used ChatGPT to find an old pair of shoes I loved, be my beauty consultant, search the internet for me and save money on grocery costs. Surely it can find me my lipstick shade and deliver it to my door, right?
Chatting and shopping, my two favorite things.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source on Chrome.
How to use ChatGPT Shop
Make sure you’re logged into ChatGPT. For the initial prompt, you can keep it broad like you would a Google Search. For example, “I’m looking for gift ideas under $100 for my nephews” or “best sneakers under $200.”
I know the shade and number of the lipstick I want, but the brand has been rubbed off. Plus, I want a nontoxic alternative, so I used this prompt and a photo:
“I want to replace this lipstick. The shade is 48 Tuscan Toast. I’ve attached a photo. I don’t know the brand. Provide nontoxic options that I can order. Deep berry is a color suggestion you’ve made before.”
I added the last line from its skin tone color suggestions in a previous chat. ChatGPT recognized the brand immediately, which was impressive. I liked how I could chat about the product before I purchased it.
I use the Environmental Working Group (EWG) database — which helps you find alternative beauty products with less-toxic ingredients — all the time when shopping, so I’m glad that came up as a research link.
ChatGPT provided multiple product options with rationales for each one:
When I chose a shade I liked from its suggestions, I clicked on the link and it opened a side panel with more information — including an expanded description, reviews and prices.
To confirm it was nontoxic, I asked ChatGPT what the EWG score was, but it was hazardous. So, I replied by asking it to find me an EWG-approved deep berry lipstick.
It wasn’t easy to find a shade I liked and one that contained more natural ingredients. In a follow-up prompt, I asked ChatGPT what color the original Tuscan Toast 48 was, and I learned it was a “catching cherry” — “more of a brown-nude with warm, reddish undertones than a true deep berry or plum.”
With that latest prompt, I asked it to search again. Bingo.
Given that it was a lip tint, not a lipstick, I asked what the difference was, and I read a little about it.
Just as I was ready to buy it, I hit ChatGPT’s free plan limit. For the sake of speed, I became a pro user (which is what they count on).
Once I was paid and signed up, I asked if I could buy the product with ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout — but couldn’t.
Maybe I got my wires crossed. I asked ChatGPT if I could buy a lipstick from Etsy, which was supposedly possible, but it got more confusing, saying: “Currently, you cannot purchase any physical products through ChatGPT with ‘Instant Checkout.’ I don’t support payment processing or order fulfilment.”
But I pressed ChatGPT because I know Etsy is a partner, and here’s what it replied: “Yes — there are lipstick (and other beauty) products that you can buy within ChatGPT via the ‘Instant Checkout’ feature, if they are sold by eligible merchants.”
The availability is up to the individual sellers, not the marketplace as a whole. Damn. It did, however, give me directions on what to ask for:
It came up with four options, but there was no buy button, meaning I couldn’t purchase them. It’s frustrating that it shows options that aren’t available in Instant Checkout.
I gave up on my search. For fun, I wanted to see if it had any lipsticks for purchase in ChatGPT. But it flopped, saying it “couldn’t verify any listing that clearly states it supports the new ‘Instant Checkout’ feature in ChatGPT with a ‘Buy’ button.”
The verdict on shopping through ChatGPT
The search for my beautiful, nontoxic berry lipstick continues, and ChatGPT’s new Instant Checkout leaves a lot to be desired. ChatGPT made out better than I did, taking my $20 for a Plus plan.
Back to good ol’ Google.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
