What: Walmart launched the Walmart Agent Gateway, which lets AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Meta's Muse connect directly to Walmart and Sam's Club systems to search products and complete purchases.

Why it is important: The gateway follows Walmart's suspended ChatGPT Instant Checkout test, where conversion came in roughly three times lower than on its own site, and it keeps the shopper's authorization and the payment data in Walmart's hands.

Walmart introduced tools on Wednesday that allow AI agents to shop and complete transactions for customers, as the retailer positions itself in the growing use of AI-powered assistants in online commerce. The move contrasts with Amazon, which has sought to limit third-party AI shopping agents' access to its platform.

Next month, Walmart will roll out "Agent Profiles", which let shoppers authorize individual AI agents, track their purchases separately from their own orders, set spending limits or require approval for each transaction, and revoke an agent's access at any time.

The company also launched the Walmart Agent Gateway, a platform that allows AI assistants such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Meta's Muse to connect directly with Walmart and Sam's Club systems to search products and complete purchases. Customers remain in control of purchases, agents are barred from accessing payment card data and can be blocked for violating company rules. The tools will be available to all Walmart account holders and will not require a Walmart+ membership.

Mizuho analyst David Bellinger said the tools instill confidence in the "experimental" process of agentic purchases, adding that management momentum and buy-in are making it a real thing.

IADS Notes: Walmart's opening to external agents follows an earlier test of the model: it suspended its ChatGPT Instant Checkout integration after conversion came in roughly three times lower than on its own site, even though the feed brought in twice as many new customers, and French shoppers' trust in AI falls from 47% before a purchase to 30% at payment (Journal du Net, September 2026). Walmart now welcomes agents such as ChatGPT and Gemini that mostly deep link shoppers back to its site, while its in-house Sparky assistant is credited with 40% higher average order values, whereas Amazon has blocked agents from Meta, Perplexity, OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft (Customer Experience Dive, October 2026). The wider market is split along the same line, with the share of 403 Forbidden responses served to bots and agents roughly double its earlier level as large etailers protect customer relationships, ad revenue and returns exposure (a16z, October 2026). The method of payment carries its own stakes: when a wallet pays with its own virtual card, the retailer loses sight of the customer, the card's rewards and the chance to sell a membership (an a16z analysis of agent wallets, October 2026). For department stores the mid-journey role of AI is already measurable, as searches originating from AI agents rose from 0.3% to 2.5% of John Lewis's total in a year, a shift the retailer met with an in-store content studio and daily influencer video (Reuters, September 2026).

Walmart launches tools for AI agents to shop for customers