Shopify merchants have to pay an additional 4% fee if customers buy via ChatGPT

OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT is putting a price on AI-driven shopping, as Shopify merchants will be charged a 4% fee on purchases made through ChatGPT’s checkout.

The fee comes on top of standard Shopify charges. Shopify’s existing fee structure includes things like transaction fees and payment processing charges.

Merchants pay for access to ChatGPT’s user base, but can opt out of OpenAI’s sales channel or use rivals such as Google’s Gemini or Microsoft’s Copilot, which remain free for now, to engage in AI-driven shopping experiences.

“This figure is broadly in line with what smaller US merchants who make up the bulk of Shopify’s base already pay for card processing,” Chris Jones, managing director at PSE Consulting, wrote in an email. “Klarna’s early US merchant fees were even higher, justified by promised uplift. Viewed in that light, 4% starts to feel reasonable, especially when you consider the potential value delivered.”

This shopping experience will be part of Shopify’s Agentic Storefronts, announced in December, that puts merchants’ products directly into all AI chat platforms to let shoppers ask questions, compare items, and complete purchases in a single thread.

Shopify’s agentic storefronts roll discovery, comparison, and checkout into one conversation, bringing in shoppers who already know what they want, Jones added. “That kind of high-intent traffic has always commanded a premium, and the OpenAI fee is essentially a toll on that value.”

While it’s an entirely new distribution channel for brands, ChatGPT is essentially a built-in shopping concierge where people ask questions and make decisions, with Shopify merchants now paying to tap into that agent-driven traffic.