**Tech Update: Walmart and OpenAI Reboot Agentic Shopping Deal** In November, Walmart joined forces with OpenAI to revolutionize online shopping through its chatbot interface, ChatGPT. The initial plan, called Instant Checkout, allowed some users to order a limited selection of products directly within the chatbot. However, the sales results have been underwhelming, according to a top Walmart executive. It seems that chatbots may not be ready to take over online shopping just yet. OpenAI had high hopes that Instant Checkout would boost revenue by charging a commission on purchases made through ChatGPT. The company partnered with several shops, including Walmart and Etsy, to make this vision a reality. Unfortunately, the results suggest that this future may be further away than anticipated. Walmart made around 200,000 products available for direct purchase within ChatGPT. Users could simply provide their shipping and payment details and place their order within the chatbot. However, conversion rates – the percentage of users who followed through with a purchase – were dishearteningly low. In fact, users were three times less likely to make a purchase when buying directly within the chatbot compared to clicking out to Walmart's website. OpenAI and Walmart could have continued to fine-tune Instant Checkout to improve the consumer experience. Instead, Walmart has decided to adopt a new approach, one that it has always preferred. Next week, its chatbot, Sparky, will begin operating within ChatGPT – essentially a chatbot inside a chatbot. A similar setup will debut in Google's Gemini chatbot next month. This new approach addresses one of the main issues with Instant Checkout, according to Walmart's design and product lead, Daniel Danker. Users feared that when they checked out automatically after each item, they would receive multiple boxes instead of a single delivery. With the new setup, users can continue to browse and select products within the chatbot, eventually checking out in a single transaction. This shift in strategy may indicate that chatbots still have a way to go before they become the go-to platform for online shopping. However, it's an interesting development for Nigerian consumers, who are increasingly using online platforms to shop. As chatbot technology continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see how it shapes the future of e-commerce in our country.