What Is Agentic Checkout? The 2026 Variants, Who Sells, and What to Configure

Short answer: agentic checkout is a purchase that an AI agent completes, or takes most of the way, on a shopper's behalf. In October 2026 that means three things in practice: a Buy button inside an AI conversation (Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode and Gemini, Perplexity), an agent that places the order on the merchant's own website after the shopper approves (Google's agentic checkout, Amazon's Buy for Me), or a handoff from the chat to the merchant's checkout (ChatGPT for Shopify stores). In all of them the merchant is still the seller, takes the payment through its own processing and owns the refund.

This guide lists each variant, who runs it, where the money moves, who is merchant of record, what a merchant has to set up, and what's actually available now, including what has ended or is limited. Sources are the vendors' own help pages, developer docs and newsroom posts, listed under Sources. For the bigger picture, start with what agentic commerce is.

Agentic checkout

A checkout initiated or completed by an AI agent for a shopper, either inside the AI surface the shopper is using or on the merchant's site, using payment credentials the shopper has authorized. The merchant remains the seller and merchant of record; the agent handles the steps a person would otherwise click through.

What kinds of agentic checkout exist in 2026?

Vendors use overlapping names (direct checkout, native checkout, Instant Checkout, Copilot Checkout, Buy for Me), so it helps to sort them by where the purchase completes. The table covers every variant we could document from primary sources.

Strictly, the handoff isn't agentic at the payment step: the shopper fills in your checkout themselves. We include it because it's where ChatGPT's commerce ended up, and because merchants regularly ask why ChatGPT "doesn't have checkout" when Copilot does.

How does checkout inside an AI chat work?

Take the Shopify version, since it powers Copilot, Google AI Mode and Gemini, and Meta for Shopify stores. Shopify's Copilot page describes the flow: the shopper clicks Buy in the conversation, fills in shipping and payment details in a Shopify-powered checkout, and clicks Pay now to pay by credit or debit card, without visiting your online store. Shopify warns the on-screen checkout may look different from your own.

1. 01

   The agent builds the order

   From your product data it picks the item and variant the shopper chose. Shopify's agent docs describe Cart and Checkout tools that turn a cart into a checkout.

2. 02

   Your store prices it

   Shipping, taxes and discounts come from your store settings. Shopify lists no channel fee for Copilot or Google direct checkout beyond standard payment processing.

3. 03

   The shopper confirms and pays

   Card details go into the channel's checkout. On Shopify, direct checkout in Copilot and in Google AI Mode and Gemini shows only to shoppers based in the US; others are sent to your online store.

4. 04

   The order lands in your admin

   Shopify says AI-channel orders show channel or referrer attribution. The channel also receives the customer's name, email, phone number and address for that order.

Behind this, Shopify's agent docs say its MCP tools implement the Universal Commerce Protocol at every step, and that trusted agents can complete checkouts directly, while other agents create the checkout and send the buyer to the merchant's storefront to pay. That trust tier is why the same catalog produces an in-chat Buy button on one surface and a link on another.

Google's own route for merchants off Shopify works the same way at a protocol level. Google's UCP developer guide says native checkout needs a Google Pay payment handler and order lifecycle updates, and that the integration must be approved by Google before going live in AI Mode and Gemini. Only listings with the native_commerce attribute's checkout_eligibility set to true show the Buy button. The Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) guide walks through both routes in detail.

What happened to ChatGPT Instant Checkout?

It launched on September 29, 2025 for US shoppers buying from US Etsy sellers, single items only, on the Agentic Commerce Protocol OpenAI built with Stripe. On March 24, 2026, OpenAI said the initial version "did not offer the level of flexibility" it wanted, began allowing merchants to use their own checkout experiences, and refocused on product discovery.

Be precise about what's left. OpenAI's Delegated Payment Spec page still describes Instant Checkout as available only to approved partners, and its shopping help page says some eligible products may still show an in-chat option. So it hasn't vanished, but it isn't open to merchants generally and it isn't how Shopify stores sell in ChatGPT. Shopify's ChatGPT page says there is no option to turn on a ChatGPT direct checkout; shoppers complete the purchase on your online store checkout. The full timeline is in how buying inside ChatGPT works now.

How do agent payment tokens and delegated payments work?

The hard problem in agentic checkout is letting software pay without handing it the shopper's card number. The industry's answer is a scoped credential: a token that works only for one merchant, up to a set amount, before a deadline.

• Stripe Shared Payment Tokens (SPTs). Stripe's docs describe an SPT as a scoped grant to use a customer's payment method, issued by the agent to the seller's Stripe profile with usage and expiration limits such as currency, maximum amount and expiry. The seller can charge it through Stripe or resolve it once into network credentials for another processor. Stripe lists SPTs as available in the US, Canada and select European countries, and its docs point sellers to preview terms and a preview API version.
• OpenAI's Delegated Payment Spec. Part of ACP. OpenAI's docs say the token is single-use and limited by a maximum amount and expiry tied to a merchant and checkout session, and that OpenAI is not the merchant of record. Direct integration is limited to PSPs and PCI DSS level 1 merchants with their own vaults; others can use Stripe's SPTs.
• Visa Intelligent Commerce. Announced April 30, 2025: tokenized credentials that confirm a shopper's chosen agent may act for them, with spending limits the shopper sets. On October 14, 2025 Visa added the Trusted Agent Protocol, built with Cloudflare, to help merchants tell trusted agents from bots.
• Mastercard Agent Pay. Announced April 29, 2025, with Agentic Tokens built on Mastercard's existing tokenization and a requirement that agents be registered and verified. In September 2025 Mastercard said all US cardholders would be enabled by the holiday season; we haven't found a Mastercard page confirming that happened.
• Google's Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). Announced in September 2025 with more than 60 organizations. It uses signed "mandates": an Intent Mandate records what the shopper asked for, and a Cart Mandate records the exact items and price they approved.
• PayPal Agent Ready. Announced October 28, 2025 for existing PayPal merchants to accept payments on AI surfaces, with availability promised for early 2026. PayPal's developer page now asks merchants to request access through a form.

These layers stack rather than compete. Stripe says it may use tokens from Mastercard Agent Pay, Visa Intelligent Commerce and American Express on a seller's behalf when processing SPTs, and Visa's Intelligent Commerce Connect, piloting since April 8, 2026, says it accepts payments from agents using the Trusted Agent Protocol, ACP and UCP among others. For a merchant on Shopify, PayPal or Stripe, almost all of this is the processor's job.

Who is the merchant of record in agentic checkout?

The merchant, on every surface we checked. That's the most important fact in this guide, because it decides who owes the tax, issues the refund and fights the chargeback.

Two consequences. Your refund and returns process has to work for orders you never saw being placed, so make sure support can find AI-channel orders by channel. And your fraud and dispute exposure doesn't move to the AI company. The token schemes above exist partly to give issuers and merchants evidence of what the shopper authorized when a dispute arrives.

What does a merchant need to configure for agentic checkout?

Less building than most people expect, more checking. Start from the route that matches your platform.

On Shopify

1. 01Confirm eligibility. Shopify Catalog needs the Starter plan or higher, no private mode, and products with a title, an image, a price above zero and a product URL. Copilot needs a store selling to US customers; Google AI Mode and Gemini also need a US-based store and a valid Google Merchant Center account with products synced.
2. 02Complete the three policies. Terms of service, privacy policy, and return and refund policy under Settings → Policies, plus acceptance of the Agentic Storefronts Supplemental Terms.
3. 03Check the Agentic page. Under Sales channels → Agentic, "Allow Shopify to manage for me" is on by default and enrolls you in new channels. Turn it off to set direct checkout per channel.
4. 04Review shipping, taxes and discounts. The in-chat checkout prices orders from your store settings, so a missing rate or tax setting fails in the chat with nobody to retry it.
5. 05Update your privacy policy. Direct-checkout channels receive the customer's name, email, phone number and address.

Off Shopify

• Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft's agentic commerce page says only English-language merchants selling to US buyers in USD are eligible for now. You set return policy and support details in Microsoft Merchant Center, add UCP attributes to your feed (native checkout eligibility, product warnings and a unique merchant item ID), and onboard through PayPal or Stripe. Microsoft supports one PSP checkout partner per merchant.
• Google AI Mode and Gemini. Build a UCP integration, apply through Google's interest form, wait to be selected, then validate in Merchant Center's UCP integration hub. If your commerce platform offers UCP, ask it first.
• Amazon Buy for Me. Amazon's Shop Direct page says merchants sync catalog, pricing and inventory through Feedonomics, Salsify or CEDCommerce, or email shopdirect@amazon.com.
• Perplexity. Perplexity's checkout runs on PayPal for retailers that use it; PayPal's Store Sync and Agent Ready are by request.

What doesn't work in agentic checkout yet?

Shopify publishes the clearest list, for its direct checkout in Copilot and in Google AI Mode and Gemini. Plan around these before you leave direct checkout on:

• Product types: subscriptions, product bundles, customizable products and B2B-only products aren't supported.
• Delivery: local delivery, pickup in store and pickup points aren't supported.
• Tracking: Google Analytics and custom pixels don't fire. On Google's direct checkout, only server-to-server checkout-started and checkout-completed events do.
• Accounts: you can't require customers to sign in before checkout, and accelerated checkout options are only partly supported.
• Checkout blocks: upsells, custom fields and loyalty experiences may not display; only blocks with checkout blocking enabled are eligible to load.

Off Shopify, the limits are mostly about access: Google approves UCP merchants one by one, Microsoft's Merchant Center route is a pilot for select customers, and Amazon's Buy for Me covers eligible products only. The configuration details for Microsoft's channel, including the unhappy paths that kill orders, are in the Copilot Checkout configuration guide.

Where is agentic checkout available right now?

Mostly in the US, mostly for selected or eligible merchants, and on a timeline each vendor sets. The dated record:

• April 29 and 30, 2025: Mastercard Agent Pay and Visa Intelligent Commerce announced.
• September 2025: Google announces AP2. September 29: ChatGPT Instant Checkout launches on ACP.
• October 14, 2025: Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol. October 28: PayPal's agentic commerce services.
• November 13, 2025: Google's agentic checkout starts rolling out in the US. November 25: Perplexity checkout with PayPal for US users.
• January 8, 2026: Microsoft announces Copilot Checkout, rolling out in the US. January 11: Google and Shopify announce UCP.
• March 24, 2026: OpenAI moves merchants to their own checkout.
• June 17, 2026: Shopify's Spring '26 Edition says Shopify merchants are UCP-enabled by default.
• October 15, 2026: Google's Universal Cart launches in the US, with checkout through Google Pay or transfer to the merchant's cart.

Google's Merchant Center help says UCP checkout covers products eligible in the United States, Canada and Australia, available to select merchants and rolling out in phases. Shopify says its Google direct checkout is still rolling out to eligible stores. If you need a definitive answer for your store, the Agentic page in your Shopify admin or Merchant Center shows what's actually switched on.

Should you leave agentic checkout on?

For most Shopify stores selling simple, shippable products, yes, after one test order per channel. The checkout runs on your payments and settings, Shopify lists no channel fee beyond processing, and the shopper doesn't have to reload a page to buy. Turn it off for a channel if your catalog leans on subscriptions, bundles, custom products or local pickup, or if you can't accept the analytics gap.

Switching off direct checkout keeps your products discoverable; shoppers are sent to your online store instead. Should you turn off agentic storefronts explains each switch, and the agentic commerce guide for Shopify puts checkout in the context of the full setup.

If you'd rather have policies, shipping, taxes and per-channel checkout settings configured and tested for you, that's part of Agentic Commerce Setup.