SAN FRANCISCO – Instacart has become the first grocery partner to introduce an embedded app within ChatGPT, allowing users to shop from over 1,800 retailers and complete Instant Checkout directly within an AI conversation. The launch marks a milestone for conversational commerce, integrating Instacart’s real-time grocery infrastructure with OpenAI’s cutting-edge model capabilities.
Instacart said the experience simplifies shopping from inspiration to delivery, enabling users to request meal ideas, discover products from local retailers, and check out without switching tabs.
“Instacart and ChatGPT are redefining what’s possible in AI-powered shopping,” said Anirban Kundu, chief technology officer at Instacart. “Built on Agentic Commerce Protocol, this experience brings intelligent, real-time support to one of the most essential parts of daily life: getting groceries to feed your family. Together, we’re creating a seamless and secure way for people to turn simple conversations into real-world action — helping customers go from inspiration to a full cart delivered from the store to their door with ease.”
Nick Turley, VP and head of ChatGPT, said the integration advances OpenAI’s goal of connecting AI recommendations directly to real-world services. “With the Instacart app directly in ChatGPT, users can go from meal planning to checkout in a single, seamless conversation,” Turley said. “It’s another step toward bringing our vision to life—where AI delivers helpful suggestions and connects directly to real-world services, saving people time and effort in their everyday lives.”
A First-of-Its-Kind Checkout Experience Inside ChatGPT
Instacart is the first company in ChatGPT’s app ecosystem to enable embedded checkout, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol and Stripe. The system supports secure credit card payments, with Apple Pay and Google Pay coming soon. The experience is live on desktop and mobile web, with Instant Checkout rolling out to iOS and Android apps in the upcoming weeks.
ChatGPT can surface the Instacart app when users initiate a prompt that begins with “Instacart,” such as “Instacart, can you help me shop for apple pie ingredients?” First-time users can install the app by signing into their Instacart account.
Once inside, the app detects products from local retailers, assembles a ready-to-review cart using OpenAI models, and allows secure payment directly within ChatGPT. Fulfillment is managed through Instacart’s established logistics network, with delivery sometimes arriving in as little as 30 minutes.
Powering the Future of AI-Driven Grocery
Instacart said its technology is built to bridge the gap between generative AI experiences and real-world grocery fulfillment.
“We believe consumers should have the freedom to shop in the way that works best for them, whether that’s through the Instacart app directly, on a retailer’s app or website, via an embedded experience on a partner’s site, or with an AI agent,” the company said. “No matter how you choose to shop, Instacart is focused on making the experience simple, seamless, and tailored to your unique preferences.”
The company stated that its collaborations with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and other AI leaders place Instacart at the heart of future digital shopping experiences.
“Over time, we expect every generative AI company to connect more directly with Instacart’s grocery engine, linking their massive consumer reach with our network of retail partners and driving incremental demand,” Instacart said. “As consumers adopt AI platforms for ideation and shopping, our collaboration with generative AI companies enables retailers to capture a larger share of these evolving, AI-driven baskets.”
Instacart is also integrating AI tools into its platform, including Smart Shop personalization features and a suite of enterprise AI solutions for retailers.
Built on Instacart’s Grocery Expertise
Instacart stated that its comprehensive real-time grocery data makes it an ideal partner for AI agents navigating assortments that differ by store, region, diet, flavor, and stock conditions.
The company’s network comprises over 1,800 retailers, nearly 100,000 stores, and more than 2 billion product instances, along with a decade of customer preference data fueling personalized recommendations.
Kundu said Instacart’s fulfillment intelligence and retail integrations are essential for trustworthy AI-driven shopping. “Powering grocery shopping inside an AI agent requires technology that understands constantly changing, highly local inventory and converts it into accurate, real-time decisions. Instacart’s platform does just that,” he said. “Our decade of unmatched grocery data, fulfillment intelligence, and deep retailer integrations makes it possible to surface the right products based on what’s actually in stock – delivering consumers a shopping experience they can trust.”
The Instacart ChatGPT app with Instant Checkout is now available for users to explore.
