According to TechCrunch, Target is joining OpenAI’s growing roster of retail apps with a new ChatGPT-powered shopping experience launching in beta next week. The app will let shoppers ask for ideas, browse products, build multi-item baskets, shop for food, and checkout directly within conversations. This comes just weeks after OpenAI started adding dedicated retail apps from companies like Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, Spotify, and Zillow. Target is also rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise across all 18,000 employees at its headquarters for supply chain forecasting and streamlining store processes. The deal expands OpenAI’s existing enterprise partnership with Target, with the retailer further integrating OpenAI’s models into employee support, customer service, and AI shopping assistants.
The retail AI arms race is on
Here’s the thing – this isn’t just about Target getting a fancy new shopping app. OpenAI is making a massive land grab in retail, and they’re moving fast. We’re seeing them build what amounts to an AI-powered shopping mall inside ChatGPT, complete with their new “Instant Checkout” feature that lets you buy from Etsy and Shopify without leaving the conversation. It’s basically Amazon’s one-click shopping, but for every retailer that partners with OpenAI.
The real money is in enterprise
But the consumer app is just the tip of the iceberg. The bigger story here is that 18,000-employee ChatGPT Enterprise deployment. That’s huge. Think about it – Target is betting that AI can optimize everything from supply chain forecasting to store processes. And they’re not alone. Every major retailer is scrambling to figure out their AI strategy right now. The question is, will OpenAI become the default operating system for retail? They’re certainly trying.
Who wins and who loses?
So who benefits from all this? Obviously OpenAI gets another major brand and thousands of enterprise seats. Target gets to position itself as an AI-forward retailer. But what about the smaller players? When you’ve got giants like Target and Shopify building directly into ChatGPT, it creates a pretty high barrier to entry. And let’s not forget Amazon – they’re watching this closely while building their own AI shopping experiences. This is going to get interesting fast.
