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“AI no longer just recommends, it buys for you”

Walmart now makes its marketplace available on ChatGPT. Behind this partnership lies a major shift: AI is no longer just powering recommendations — it’s becoming the very engine of commerce. Valérie Piotte, Managing Director of Altavia OpenLab — Altavia’s innovation entity — decodes the rise of agentic commerce: when artificial intelligence stops being a tool and starts becoming a personal shopper.
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OpenAI has just launched “Buy it in ChatGPT,” and only two weeks later Walmart announced a partnership to bring its marketplace to ChatGPT. What is this new tool, and what does this partnership mean?

For now, the “Buy it in ChatGPT” feature is available only in the United States. It allows users to use ChatGPT not just to search for a product or a service, but also to complete their purchase without leaving the app — a new step toward a fully seamless shopping journey.

Walmart’s partnership with OpenAI will make almost its entire offer — excluding fresh products — available within ChatGPT by the end of the year in the U.S. ChatGPT thus becomes a “marketplace of marketplaces,” turning into a serious competitor to Amazon and accelerating the rise of agentic commerce.

 

What exactly is agentic commerce?

For the past 25 years, the purchasing journey has followed a familiar pattern: the consumer searches on Google, compares offers, decides, and buys. Agentic commerce introduces the AI agent as a true personal shopping assistant. You express a need, the AI recommends, and can now even buy for you.

Tomorrow, this agent will know you so well that it will anticipate your needs — even from a vague request — select the right product and complete the purchase on your behalf.

 

“19 % of referral traffic to U.S. e-commerce sites now comes from ChatGPT.”

 

What does Walmart gain from positioning itself on ChatGPT?

Walmart first benefits from a new source of traffic to its marketplace, comparable to a brand-new affiliate channel — one that’s rapidly growing. According to Euromonitor, as of June 2025, up to 19 % of referral traffic to U.S. e-commerce sites now comes from ChatGPT, compared to just 1 % in November 2024. As this traffic grows, so do retail-media opportunities. It’s also an additional touchpoint offered to customers, enabling a truly “à la carte” shopping experience.

Finally, this partnership helps Walmart take a step ahead of Amazon while capitalizing on its unique competitive advantage: its 4,600 physical stores, which make in-store pickup possible. Let’s also note that Walmart is developing its own AI agent — Sparky — designed to accompany customers directly throughout their purchases.

 

“Agentic commerce is comparable to the arrival of e-commerce 20 years ago.”

 

Are we witnessing a turning point for retail with agentic commerce?

Agentic commerce introduces a major new touchpoint into the retail ecosystem — one that inevitably redefines the role of the sector’s primary asset: the store.
Physical stores are evolving into places of pick-up, fulfillment, and above all, human experience and connection.

This transformation also demands even greater agility from retailers. With 800 million ChatGPT users worldwide, and forecasts suggesting that 25 % of web traffic will come from Large Language Models (LLMs) by 2028, adapting and optimizing online visibility becomes critical.

Finally, offering customers personalized online assistance will soon become the new standard. Retailers who fail to adopt it risk losing market share.

Agentic commerce is comparable to the arrival of e-commerce 20 years ago — only this time, everything is moving much faster.

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