OpenAI introduced a new tool allowing retailers to create AI-powered shopping assistants in Shopify with just a few clicks. Using the Storefront Managed Compute Platform (MCP) and the OpenAI Responses API, developers can build agents that can:
- Search products
- Answer product questions
- Explain differences between items
- Add items to a cart
- Generate checkout links
Users can enter prompts like, “I am looking for a tri suit for a cold weather triathlon,” and the assistant will search for options from the store's inventory to show the shopper. If the shopper picks one of the options, the assistant can automatically move to checkout.
@ShopifyDev account shared a demo on X featuring a fictional cycling store where a chatbot guided the shopper through helmet and jersey recommendations, pulled real product data via the Shopify API, and completed checkout using built-in tools. The assistant even remembered the user’s previous product preferences and adjusted suggestions accordingly.
I played around with it for a few minutes with one of my stores, and it seems pretty easy to implement. However it'll require some additional testing before we decide to go live.