Adobe Analytics, which analyzed online transactions and website traffic for its shopping trends report, said traffic from generative AI chatbots toward retailer's sites, increased by 693.4% from the 2024 holiday season, indicating a shift in the way people shop. Before the holiday season began, FedEx reported 97% of U.S. retailers were planning to use AI for shopping, including incorporating tools for customer service and pricing.
OpenAI would be most interested in the bones of Pinterest's business, like its trove of image data and its existing advertising business, as well as relationships with merchants. Pinterest's digital scrapbooking features could also complement OpenAI's image- and video-generation tools and help it fend off competition from other AI heavyweights like Google, which launched a Pinterest-like feature in 2025.
To use the interface, ChatGPT users need to make an Instacart account and then surface Instacart within their chat thread using a prompt like, "Instacart, help me shop for apple pie ingredients." From there, they can discuss recipes, ingredient swaps, and their preferred store with ChatGPT, which will help them order all of the items they need from Instacart without ever changing tabs or leaving the chat.