ChatGPT se lance dans le shopping en ligne : quelles opportunités pour les professionnels du e-commerce ?

OpenAI continues to develop ChatGPT, transforming it into an increasingly versatile assistant. With le nouveau ChatGPT Shopping feature, the conversational tool, which already has a web search function, now offers an e-commerce option: displaying products directly in its responses, complete with purchase links. Il s'agit a major advance that could well reshuffle the deck when it comes to product searches on the Internet!

A conversational response… enhanced with a product carousel

Until now, when a user expressed a need or desire to make a purchase in a query, ChatGPT could offer advice, lists or comparisons. Now, the assistant goes one step further: it directly displays product images along with their prices, customer reviews and links to purchase, in the form of an interactive carousel.

This nouvelles fonctionnalités is activated when the model detects an intention to purchase, such as for queries like « best wireless headphones for sports » or « gift ideas for children.«  The algorithm relies on the text of the query, mais aussi on other contextual elements, such as preferences entered by the user or previous conversations.

In short: ChatGPT is now capable of acting as a shopping engine, but by integrating these suggestions into the heart of a conversational exchange. un nouveau paradigm that combines personalisation, speed and time savings for internet users!

ChatGPT Shopping: Organic results, not yet sponsored

OpenAI insists that these product suggestions are not publicité. The results displayed are taken from product feeds provided by third-party partners and organised automatically by the model, without any prioritisation or sponsored placement.

The listings are then enriched with metadata provided by merchants, but ChatGPT can add generated elements such as simplified descriptions or tags. The aim is to make reading more fluid pour le user… and the act of purchasing more natural.

Towards future monetisation through affiliation?

Even though OpenAI is currently rejecting traditional publicité models, monetising this feature remains a strategic lever à surveiller. E-merchants could pay a commission for purchases generated via ChatGPT.

No paid placements, then, but a potential source of revenue for OpenAI… and a high-potential visibility channel for brands. In a saturated digital world, the ability to appear in a relevant conversational response could well become un nouveau challenge for marketing teams!

A form is already available for interested brands, and OpenAI recommends that sites web update their robots.txt file to allow crawling by the OAI-SearchBot robot.

ChatGPT, a serious future competitor for Google Shopping?

With over a billion searches conducted via ChatGPT in a week, Sam Altman’s company is showing its ambitions. The goal is clear: to offer an alternative to traditional search, with a more fluid, contextual and potentially more engaging experience.

The OpenAI teams recognise that the Shopping feature is still in its early stages. It is gradually being a déployé globally, including for users of the free version. But the prospects are enormous: in a few months, ChatGPT could become a fully-fledged shopping interface, integrated into everyday use.

E-merchants and marketers, we advise you to closely follow the development of this feature, prepare your feeds, and monitor the impact on your traffic sources! The era of commercial conversational search is upon us: it’s best to be ready before it becomes unavoidable. Want to take advantage of AI opportunities pour vos business? Contact our SEO agency now!