Not if. Not even when. The real question is how you’ll shop with AI.

And that’s a radical change. When millions of merchants suddenly gain the ability to sell directly through AI conversations, this isn’t a niche experiment anymore – it’s a whole new sales channel.

But the biggest possibilities will dawn on you when you consider the fact that while the UI of ChatGPT is what comes to mind when you think of OpenAI, it is in fact a large AI model that can be accessed through a number of different APIs. The same technology already underpins a wave of AI integrations: Microsoft Copilot inside Office, customer service tools embedded in CRMs, smart speakers at home, and even smartphones like the Nothing Phone where ChatGPT is the default voice assistant. 

In other words, this isn’t just about shopping in a chat window. The underpinning technology will soon help with buying things in moments you don’t even associate with shopping. At a red light in your car. In the kitchen while cooking dinner. Through your headphones while out for a run.

That’s the real shift: commerce no longer confined to websites or apps, but woven into everyday conversations with AI, through all available interfaces.

Your next sales channel might be a conversation

Until now, AI assistants have largely been advisors – they recommend, compare, maybe redirect you to a store. Now it also becomes the cashier. While this opens up for a number of potential issues for anyone working with e-commerce (who owns the customer journey, what about brand loyalty and so on), Instant Checkout also opens up for shopping in many new channels.

OK, I get it. These channels might not seem entirely new – for instance, we’ve been talking about voice commerce for quite some time. But at least for me, who have been using the Google Assistant on my smart speakers at home, allowing it to spend my money has not even been close to becoming a reality, even if the possibility had been there. Let’s face it – it’s simply too dumb. If it can’t differentiate between setting a timer for the pasta water and turning off the lights, I am not handing it my wallet.

But with modern LLM-powered assistants, that could all change very quickly. The entire purchase – from intent to confirmation – happens in one seamless dialogue. Google have already confirmed that its Gemini LLM is replacing Google Assistant shortly.

For consumers it’s convenience. For merchants, it’s a power shift. Visibility and conversion would no longer depend on Google rankings or ad spend (although we’re sure someone will come up with a way of making money out of it), but on whether an AI agent understands your product data well enough to present it in the right moment.

Opportunity and Risk

For Shopify merchants, this could be a breakthrough. Imagine your products coming up in conversations without competing for clicks in search results or paying for costly campaigns. Structured product data – clean descriptions, variants, metadata – suddenly becomes your SEO for the AI era.

But the risks are just as real. When ChatGPT controls the interface, you lose control of brand experience, customer data, and the conversation itself. Your store and perhaps even brand becomes invisible behind the agent’s dialogue. And as anyone selling on Amazon knows, once you rely on someone else’s algorithm for visibility, you also surrender leverage.

Right now, Shopify is testing agentic commerce tools in early access. They allow AI agents to query catalogs, render product cards, and initiate secure checkouts via Shopify. At this stage, it’s mostly single-item purchases. But the foundation is there, and might expand fast.
 

Harder to predict the “When” than the “If”

So - will consumers embrace AI shopping immediately? Highly unlikely. Some will hesitate, preferring the reassurance of browsing a site, reading reviews, and double-checking return policies. Others will jump in right away for the sheer simplicity. Adoption will vary, not least when it comes to complexity of the product bought. Would you buy toilet paper or detergent? Sure. A new TV or sofa? Probably not.

But the bigger picture is clear: AI is embedding itself into every corner of technology. From productivity suites to voice assistants to mobile OS features, the habit of talking to AI is spreading. When shopping becomes a natural extension of those interactions, the leap will feel smaller than it looks today.

The Bottom Line: Get ready

The question for merchants isn’t if agentic commerce takes hold – it’s when. And you already know the rest of the story: those who prepare early will be the ones ahead when it does. That means structuring product data, investing in robust integrations, and rethinking customer journeys where AI stands between you and the buyer.

At SQLI, we see this as the next major chapter in digital commerce. Hard to time, impossible to ignore. The moment a customer can simply say to their assistant “Buy it for me” – in a car, in a kitchen, anywhere – the rules of e-commerce will have changed.
So the only real question left is: will you be ready for it?