ChatGPT and Shopify: Seems Logical, But Are There Any Risks?
Recent news from TestingCatalog indicates that Shopify and ChatGPT are likely on the path to launch some kind of partnership which would allow at least a direct link from ChatGPT answers panel to a Shopify's checkout (at worst) and an easier integration to OpenAI's Operator at best. All speculation.
The logic seems to be:
* AI will take over the world.
* AI partner with Shopify.
* As a result, Shopify will take over the world.
Does this logic make any sense? To my mind, if OpenAI Operator were any good this would not be needed right? It would just "agentic" the integration. (which people are talking about as if it's akin to magic). As a result, the dream of a universal shopping cart does not seem like it is within reach just yet.
Still: Consumers are having conversations, and brands want to be in those conversations. Fact.
So, should brands want to be involved? Yes. You should want to be where your consumers are, at least healthy ones that match your ideal customer profile, anyway.
At any cost? Are there any? Most of the downsides to a brand being included in AI are "who moved my cheese?" style objections (what about my brand front-end) -- as long as the consumer in the driver's seat you should want to be there. In that vein, I predict OpenAI will even publish a set of standards for eCommerce to make things easier for themselves. Which could have broad uptake. So this likely would not be the first or the last integration touchpoint you will see.
For Shopify, there are some risks also. Minimal, but they are there.
* What's the Shop App for now again?
* What if consumers start to get their shipping updates from ChatGPT too?
* Would Shopify not just become a kind of "headless CMS" in the worst case scenario here? Essentially routing between ChatGPT and Amazon Logistics services?
Shopify could view this kind of disruption similarly as "cost of doing business" to stay ahead of the new era.
The real interesting question to me is could AI-guided commerce accelerate the growth of eCommerce further? Or does it steal from other outlets.
Why would OpenAI do this now?
I think there are two obvious answers. One, eCommerce is a fertile area for experimentation. And two, Anthropic Claude is likely to advantage Amazon, so OpenAI may have a competitive reason for the tie-up too.
As far as what brands should do?
Ultimately connecting your brand's backoffice to AI will become a checkbox everywhere, regardless of this announcement. The front-end in my mind is more intersting.
There are a lot of people saying that organic content is useless in the AI era. Not me. The best content will be found by AIs, and used in the experience to help consumers make decisions. All the low-hanging fruit suggests brands should continue to prioritize text-based content in any arena (including their own site/blog, not to mention reddit, X, etc) that an AI spider is likely to show up.
