Walmart’s plan to sell products via ChatGPT has failed

In a major setback for the concept of “Agentic Commerce,” Walmart has officially scrapped its partnership with OpenAI’s Instant Checkout, labeling the experiment an “unsatisfying” failure. The decision, confirmed by Walmart’s EVP of AI Acceleration, Daniel Danker, follows internal data showing that shopping directly inside ChatGPT performed far worse than traditional e-commerce.

The retreat marks a significant pivot from the October 2025 announcement that was supposed to “usher in the next generation of retail.”

1. Why the Partnership “Flapped”

Despite the initial hype, the reality of AI-driven shopping hit several technical and psychological walls.

• The 3x Conversion Gap: Walmart found that conversion rates for purchases made directly inside ChatGPT were three times lower than when users were simply redirected to Walmart’s own website.
• The “One Item” Friction: The original Instant Checkout required users to complete purchases item-by-item. Danker noted that customers feared they would receive five separate boxes for five items rather than a single, consolidated delivery.
• Accuracy Issues: Early testers reported “disappointing” results, including wrong items appearing in carts and the AI’s inability to verify real-time local inventory or exact delivery windows.
• Consumer Mistrust: Shoppers were hesitant to complete high-value transactions within a third-party chat interface, preferring the familiarity and security of the native Walmart app.

2. The “Sparky” Pivot: A New Strategy

Walmart isn’t giving up on AI; it’s just moving the “brain” back under its own control.

• Sparky Inside ChatGPT: Instead of using OpenAI’s generic checkout, Walmart is embedding its homegrown assistant, Sparky, as a dedicated “app” within ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
• Unified Cart: The new system allows users to search and compare items in the chat, but the shopping cart remains synced across the Walmart app, website, and the AI. You can add an item in ChatGPT and finish the checkout on your phone.
• Discovery over Transaction: OpenAI itself is shifting its strategy, admitting that ChatGPT is currently better suited for product discovery and research rather than owning the final transaction layer.

3. The Broader “Agentic” Retreat

Walmart isn’t alone in this realization. The “messy reality” of retail data has caused a chain reaction across the industry this month.

“The idea that shopping will become fully automated might be a little far-fetched for now,” Danker told Wired. “Customers want the store to meet them where they are, but they don’t want a broken experience.”