Introduction: The Future of Shopping with AI Agents
Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of our daily routines, from voice assistants helping with weather forecasts to chatbots answering support queries. However, one activity has remained largely manual—buying products online. Despite features like personalized recommendations and one-click purchasing, we, as consumers, are still the ones pressing the final “buy” button. In late 2025, OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout within ChatGPT, an AI feature that lets users purchase items directly through chat. Powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) and backed by partnerships with giants like Stripe, Etsy, and Shopify, this innovation sets the stage for a future where AI agents function as trusted personal shoppers. In this article, we explore what Instant Checkout is, the evolution of agentic commerce, its potential impact on consumer trust, the challenges involved, and how brands can build credibility to unlock the next chapter in e-commerce.
1. What Is Instant Checkout and How Does It Work?
Instant Checkout is a groundbreaking feature that allows ChatGPT to act as a native storefront within the chat interface. Rather than simply recommending products and linking to external websites, ChatGPT can now handle the entire purchasing process: from selecting an item to gathering shipping information, processing payment, and completing the transaction—all without leaving the conversation.
1.1 Understanding the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)
At its core, Instant Checkout relies on the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), a standard developed by OpenAI and Stripe. This protocol uses a REST API with endpoints that allow AI agents to create, update, retrieve, and complete checkout sessions. When a user requests a purchase, ChatGPT interacts with the merchant’s system by calling the appropriate endpoints, such as createCheckoutSession to start the transaction and completeCheckoutSession to finalize payment through Stripe. The protocol ensures a seamless, secure transaction between consumers and merchants, making this a significant step forward in e-commerce.
1.2 Why ACP Matters for the Future of Shopping
The ACP's open-source nature makes it highly scalable and adaptable. It allows any AI agent to complete purchases with merchants who have adopted the protocol, thus enabling broader interoperability between different platforms. In its current form, the system supports single-item purchases, with plans to expand to multi-item carts and a wider variety of merchants and regions. For now, U.S.-based Etsy sellers are among the first to use this feature, with more than a million Shopify merchants expected to follow soon .
2. How Is Agentic Commerce Different from Assisted Shopping?
E-commerce has evolved over the years to become more convenient with tools like recommendation engines, one-click buying, and voice-assisted shopping. However, these technologies are primarily assistive—they aid the user in making decisions but still require manual action to finalize the purchase. In contrast, agentic commerce shifts the responsibility from the user to the AI agent, allowing the AI to act on the user’s behalf, making decisions and completing purchases autonomously.
2.1 The Role of AI in Agentic Commerce
Agentic commerce represents a significant shift in how we approach shopping. It turns the traditional buyer-seller relationship on its head, with AI agents empowered to initiate and complete transactions. According to a survey by Bain & Company, while only 10% of U.S. consumers have used AI to make a purchase so far, a substantial 64% are open to the idea of AI handling purchases . This marks the early stages of a broader trend where AI takes on more active roles in decision-making.
3. Trust: The Key Barrier to Adoption of Agentic Commerce
While the potential for agentic commerce is clear, trust remains the major hurdle. Consumers need to feel secure in their interactions with AI, especially when it involves handing over their financial details. The same Bain survey revealed that security and privacy concerns are the primary reasons consumers hesitate to let AI complete purchases. More than 60% of consumers trust established payment systems like Apple Pay or PayPal more than generic tech platforms, emphasizing the need for transparency and proven security when adopting AI-driven purchases .
3.1 How Transparency and Control Can Build Trust
To foster trust, businesses must offer consumers transparency around how their data is used, along with robust user control over their transactions. A key aspect of the Agentic Commerce Protocol is the requirement for a confirmation step before completing a purchase. This ensures that users are always in the loop and can make any necessary adjustments before finalizing an order. Additionally, consumers need to feel confident that their data is secure, which can be achieved by using encryption and secure authentication methods to protect payment information.
4. What Could Go Wrong with Instant Checkout?
While agentic commerce holds tremendous promise, it also raises potential concerns that need to be addressed. These include errors in order fulfillment, security vulnerabilities, and unauthorized purchases.
4.1 Common Errors in Automated Purchases
Errors could arise from ambiguous user prompts, misapplied discounts, or outdated shipping options. For example, asking for a "blender under $200" might lead to a product that fits the price but doesn't meet the user's preferences. To avoid these mistakes, businesses must ensure clear confirmation dialogues are built into the AI’s purchasing process. The system should be able to handle discrepancies, such as offering an option to change the shipping method or cancel the purchase if the wrong product is selected.
4.2 Addressing Fraud and Security Issues
Since AI agents pass payment tokens between buyers and merchants, there is always the risk of fraud or data breaches. To mitigate this, payment systems like Stripe must implement multi-factor authentication and real-time fraud detection. Furthermore, AI providers should implement strict data privacy protocols, ensuring that no sensitive information is exposed to unauthorized parties .
5. The Economics of Agentic Commerce: Why Major Players Are Investing
The launch of Instant Checkout presents a unique opportunity for platforms like OpenAI, Stripe, Etsy, and Shopify to benefit from a new revenue stream. OpenAI will earn transaction fees on each purchase made through ChatGPT, while merchants gain access to an audience without the need to build their own AI shopping experience .
For Stripe, the collaboration with OpenAI positions it as the default payment infrastructure for agentic transactions. By co-developing the Agentic Commerce Protocol, Stripe is not only enhancing its payment offerings but also capturing a larger share of the growing online payment market .
6. Best Practices for Building Trust in Agentic Commerce
For businesses looking to embrace agentic commerce, several best practices can help build consumer trust:
6.1 Transparency and Education
Ensure that users understand when they are interacting with an AI agent and provide clear explanations about how their data is being used. Transparency around the AI's role and its decision-making process is crucial to building trust .
6.2 User Control and Explicit Confirmation
Allow users to set spending limits, review their orders before final confirmation, and easily cancel or modify transactions. Explicit confirmation steps, especially for higher-stakes purchases, help maintain control while gradually building consumer confidence.
6.3 Security and Privacy Safeguards
Adopt end-to-end encryption, secure authentication mechanisms, and implement anomaly detection to protect against fraud. The more secure the process, the more likely consumers will feel comfortable using AI to complete purchases .
7. The Path to Fully Autonomous Purchasing
The long-term vision for agentic commerce is to enable AI to make purchases autonomously, without the need for human confirmation. While we are far from this ideal scenario, gradual steps can be taken to move towards greater autonomy.
7.1 Autonomy vs. Oversight
Consumers are likely to remain cautious about fully autonomous AI shopping. While low-risk items like groceries may be automatically purchased, more expensive products will likely require user confirmation. Over time, AI agents could learn user preferences and make autonomous decisions for tasks like subscription management or replenishing household supplies.
8. Conclusion: Macaron AI and the Future of Shopping
Macaron AI, through its integration with agentic commerce protocols, represents the future of shopping—where AI is more than just an assistant, but a trusted agent acting on behalf of consumers. The transition to agentic commerce will require overcoming challenges related to trust, security, and error management. By focusing on transparency, user control, and robust security measures, businesses can unlock the full potential of this new paradigm.
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