Walmart said ChatGPT checkout converted 3x worse, so it moved to Sparky inside ChatGPT

US retailer selling products through its own chatbot, Sparky, now embedded in ChatGPT

Letting shoppers buy products directly inside ChatGPT with Instant Checkout would turn the chatbot into a sales channel

Walmart partnered with OpenAI to let users shop through ChatGPT, making around 200,000 products purchasable inside the chatbot through Instant Checkout.

Per Wired, as reported by ETBrandEquity, sales were lower than traditional online shopping. Daniel Danker, Walmart's EVP overseeing product and design, said conversion for in-chat purchases was three times lower than when users were redirected to Walmart's website. Supplements, automotive, beauty, home management, hardware and tools made up more than half of orders.

Walmart and OpenAI were moving away from Instant Checkout. Walmart will put its own chatbot, Sparky, inside ChatGPT, with users logging in and carts synced across Walmart's app, website and chatbot. Danker said the old checkout caused fear of receiving five boxes, and that the idea everything will be automated may be far-fetched. Walmart said ChatGPT brings new customers at about twice the rate of search engines.

Conversion inside ChatGPT was three times lower than after a redirect to Walmart's site, per Danker

Item-by-item automatic checkout made shoppers fear receiving many separate boxes

A synced cart across app, website and chatbot gives a more standard purchase flow

ChatGPT still brought new customers at about twice the rate of search engines

Selling inside someone else's chatbot only works if checkout fits shopper habits; a retailer's own assistant that keeps its cart and login may convert better.

As of 2026-03-20, Walmart and OpenAI were moving from Instant Checkout to Sparky inside ChatGPT with synced carts; no new sales results had been reported.