OpenAI launches shopping research feature to power product discovery

OpenAI has rolled out a shopping research feature in ChatGPT, aimed at helping users describe what they want, receive tailored product suggestions and build personalised guides

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a shopping research feature in its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, which can help users find the right products by describing the product or the event for which they want to purchase it, the company said in a blog post.

 

The research assistant will ask users questions about the product they want to buy, research it across various websites, and help deliver a personalised buyer’s guide. The research feature will also build on users’ past interactions with ChatGPT to understand which products they like, the company said.

 

“Shopping research is starting to roll out today (Tuesday) on mobile and web for logged-in ChatGPT users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans. To help with holiday shopping, we’re making nearly unlimited usage available to all plans through the holidays,” OpenAI said.

 

Earlier this year, in April, OpenAI rolled out a feature in ChatGPT that allowed users to search, compare, and buy products by providing personalised recommendations, visual details of the product they are looking for, the price, and a direct link to buy it.

 

The company had then said that the memory integration feature for search and shopping, which allows ChatGPT to build on previous conversations that a user has had with the bot, was also available for all users.

 

In February 2024, OpenAI said it was “testing the ability for ChatGPT to remember things you discuss to make future chats more helpful”. The idea, OpenAI had said, was to save users “from having to repeat information” so that future conversations with the chatbot would be more useful. The memory feature was rolled out to all users in September that year.

 

In an update on April 10 this year, OpenAI said that ChatGPT’s memory was now comprehensive, as the large language model could, in addition to user-saved memories, also reference past conversations between the chatbot and the user to deliver more personalised responses.

 

In the update on Tuesday, OpenAI said that the shopping research feature would enable deeper decision-making conversations between the user and the chatbot.

 

“It performs especially well in detail-heavy categories like electronics, beauty, home and garden, kitchen and appliances, and sports and outdoor,” OpenAI said.