OpenAI Plans to Take Cut From Sales in ChatGPT 🤑

OpenAI wants a commission on every sale? Looks like our friendly neighborhood chatbot just became an affiliate 🤖.

Hi there, and welcome to another issue of The Ecom Press 🗞️!

This week, Target is ditching price matching, Genus AI is rolling out a growth agent to supercharge ecommerce, and OpenAI is sliding into the checkout lane.

We’ve also spotlighted five slick tools to sharpen your ecommerce game.

Let’s unpack the goods, shall we? 🚀

In a rush? Here's the juice🤭:

🤑 OpenAI plans to take cut from online sales in ChatGPT.

🏷️ Target ends 12-year competitor price match program.

🤖 Genus AI unveils ‘growth agent’ for ecommerce.

🧰 Tool spotlight: 5 tools on the radar this week

⚡️Worthy Mentions

🤑 OpenAI plans to take cut from online sales in ChatGPT.

OpenAI is reportedly working with Shopify, following their partnership announced in April, to build a native checkout system into ChatGPT, enabling purchases to happen without leaving the chatbot. This would let OpenAI earn a commission from each sale — a significant step toward monetizing its vast free user base and strengthening its ecommerce offering.

Here’s the lowdown ⬇️:

🛍️ Checkout without clicking out: Currently, ChatGPT links out to external retailer sites. The new feature would let users complete purchases entirely within the platform — a cleaner, faster shopping experience.

🤝 Shopify in the backend: Shopify, which already powers checkouts for TikTok Shop, is OpenAI’s tech partner here. The two companies first announced their collaboration back in April and have been quietly demoing early versions of the integration to brands since then.

💸 New revenue stream for OpenAI: So far, OpenAI’s revenue has come largely from subscriptions. With this system, the company can now monetize its massive free user base through transaction commissions.

📈 Consumer habits are shifting: As shoppers grow more comfortable discovering and buying directly through AI tools, ChatGPT could start competing directly with traditional ecommerce search flows, including platforms like Google and Amazon.

🧠 Personalized product suggestions still evolving: Product results in ChatGPT today are based on user context and third-party metadata. OpenAI doesn’t yet prioritize price or shipping, but improvements are in the works to refine how recommendations are ranked and displayed.

Why it matters 🤷‍♂️

This update certainly positions ChatGPT to sit at the center of product discovery and transaction. With billions of users and heavy daily traffic, this move could unlock a major new revenue stream, especially from non-paying users. Like we’ve said, early adoptions with smart integrations and clear visibility is the name of the game to leverage this opportunity.

🏷️ Target ends 12-year competitor price match program.

Starting July 28, Target will no longer match competitor prices, ending a 12-year policy that once positioned it as the brick-and-mortar pioneer in price parity with online giants like Amazon and Walmart.

Here’s the scoop 🍨:

🛑 No more Amazon/Walmart matching: Target’s current policy allows customers to request a price match at the time of purchase or within 14 days, including for items cheaper on Amazon or Walmart. That is, customers can request price adjustments if identical items were sold for less on other platforms. That option is ending nationwide.

🛒 Internal price match still stays: Customers will still be able to price match between Target’s own store and website, but not with external retailers.

📉 Sales have been slipping: In Q1 2025, Target reported a revenue drop from $24.5B to $23.8B YoY, alongside reduced foot traffic and consumer pushback tied to corporate policy shifts and tariff uncertainty.

🛠️ Cost pressure from tariffs: Target is tweaking prices, shifting production locations, and negotiating with vendors to offset increased costs, though leadership insists price hikes remain a “last resort.”

Why it matters 🤨

This is significant in how major retailers approach value and pricing transparency. For Target, it’s a bet that its private-label brands, promotions, and loyalty perks (like Target Circle) are enough to retain price-sensitive shoppers, even without the safety net of a competitor match. The opportunity here is that when retail giants remove price alignment tools, shoppers may turn back to search and third-party tools to find the best deals. 

🤑 Sponsored tip of the week

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🤖 Genus AI unveils ‘growth agent’ for ecommerce.

Genus AI has launched Sage, a new AI-powered growth agent designed to help ecommerce brands automate their marketing engine, from creatives to campaigns to customer insights. It’s now available for merchants using Shopify and Meta platforms.

Here are the deets ⬇️:

🧠 Unified growth engine: Sage consolidates several ecommerce functions into one tool, including product catalog management, digital ad campaigns, creative generation, customer insights, and order data analysis. It’s meant to help brands scale faster with fewer tools and less overhead.

🎨 High-volume creative generation: Genus AI says its platform currently produces over 20 million catalog images and videos per month. With Sage, this creative power is now available in a more autonomous format, tuned to each brand’s catalog, goals, and performance data.

📊 Data-driven campaigns: By combining catalog data with campaign metrics and lifecycle insights, Sage can optimize targeting and ad performance, reducing the need for manual oversight.

🔁 AI-to-AI workflows coming soon: Later this year, Sage will support Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling full automation across creative, campaign, and audience workflows via AI-to-AI pipelines.

🏆 Already in use: Brands like Chubbies, Annie Selke, and Peter Thomas Roth are already leveraging Genus AI to scale campaigns, suggesting early trust from established DTC players.

Why it matters 🤔

For ecommerce teams, this could mean fewer fragmented tools and faster experimentation. But if growth agents like Sage can run ad creative, optimize campaigns, and handle catalog strategy, ecommerce teams may need to rethink their human-vs-machine workflows, to effectively maximize it.

🛎️ The Ecom Press Insider

Ecom Fact: Only 12% of online stores use AI daily, and just 8% use it multiple times per day, despite 87% of professionals saying they trust AI to improve business performance (Source: Uptain via Ecommerce Times).

🧠 Takeaway: The gap between belief and execution is wide. But it means most brands are leaving easy wins on the table. By using AI more consistently, even just for daily tasks like content generation or product tagging, you can outpace competitors who are still dabbling.

🧰 Tool spotlight: 5 tools on the radar this week

This week, we’re highlighting five tools helping ecommerce brands stay sharp, efficient, and a step ahead. From AI shopping assistants to custom tracking pages and fulfillment tech, these picks are worth a look if you’re serious about leveling up your online operation. Let’s dive in ⬇️

🧠 Klaviyo Conversational AI Agent: Think of Klaviyo’s Conversational AI Agent as a 24/7 sales rep that actually knows your customer. It uses real-time data, purchase history, and your product catalog to chat with shoppers like a human associate. No coding needed. It handles FAQs, recommends products, processes returns, and even plans to expand across WhatsApp and email.

🗣️ New Gen AI-Native Storefronts: New Gen is building what they call agentic commerce. These AI-native storefronts allow digital agents to handle the full transaction process through chat or voice, including payment via Visa. That means zero redirects, faster checkout, and a smoother shopping journey across any digital channel.

📦 Ordoro Branded Tracking Pages: Ordoro flips boring tracking pages into high-converting brand touchpoints. Instead of a plain shipping status, your customers see a custom-branded experience—with messaging, FAQs, and even promotions baked in. It keeps shoppers engaged after checkout and turns shipment tracking into another chance to drive sales and build loyalty.

🛍️ Alby AI Shopping Assistant: Alby gives you four AI tools in one. It guides product discovery with chat, remembers in-session behavior, and adapts recommendations based on what users browse. Best part? You can teach it how to behave—no code needed. It’s like having a coachable, intelligent assistant right on your storefront, ready to convert.

🚚 ShipStation Fulfillment Optimization Suite: ShipStation’s latest suite automates nearly everything between checkout and delivery. It auto-picks the best shipping rates, offers a branded return portal, and packs in detailed analytics to track costs, stock, and fulfillment speed. Bonus: built-in tools for warehouse ops and inventory forecasting keep your logistics tight and scalable.

⚡️Worthy Mentions

• OpenAI launches new ChatGPT Agent that can complete complex tasks and automate workflows for users.

• Target’s Roundel adds Precision Plus, an AI tool that helps brands optimize ad campaigns across major platforms.

• Etsy users call for a boycott in protest of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ merchandise on the platform.

• Apple launches its official online store in Saudi Arabia, with flagship physical locations coming in 2026.

• Trump announces a new 30% tariff on all EU imports, escalating the US-EU trade dispute.

Wrapping up…

From OpenAI grabbing a cut of your sales, to Target waving goodbye to price matching, and Genus AI stepping in to do the heavy lifting, this week was stacked 💼.

And trust us, there’s always more where that came from. We’ll keep the updates coming, straight to your inbox, nice and hot 🍜.

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