OpenAI has announced a 4% transaction fee for Shopify merchants using ChatGPT Checkout.
On a $81.47 purchase (as per the screenshot) that means over $5 in transaction fees alone:
OpenAI (4%): ~$3.26
Shopify (~2.4%): ~$1.96
Total: $5.22
That’s without all the other costs, such as taxes, packing, shipping, cost of goods sold (COGS), admin and marketing…
And let’s not forget, OpenAi are offering retailers advertising as well, which also means they will be taking some of that share in marketing spend as well!
I do think agentic commerce is going to remove a lot of friction for buyers. That’s a great thing if it’s done responsibly.
But for businesses, this is another layer of complexity and cost. They now have to pay to be visible (ads) and for the checkout (transaction fees).
And who does that cost get passed onto… probably the user.
While the large tech companies pocket the difference.
Clearly OpenAI is under huge pressure from investors to turn its balance sheet around… but is 4% fair? It feels steep to me.
N.B. Gemini and CoPilot haven’t announced any fees for the time being.
#ai #openai #chatgptcheckout #ecommerce #agenticcommerce
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