OpenAI puts a fitting room and a wishlist inside ChatGPT
OpenAI rolled out Virtual Try On and Favorites worldwide, giving more than 1.2 billion weekly ChatGPT users a fitting room and a save list. Retailers should plan for shoppers who try on and shortlist in ChatGPT, even though OpenAI's last attempt at in-chat checkout underperformed.
The Product Desk

What happened
- Shoppers upload a selfie or full-body photo and press a new try-on button in ChatGPT's shopping results to see clothing or accessories on themselves.
- Favorites saves products to a Library inside ChatGPT, stored next to the shopper's try-on images.
- Both features run on the new ChatGPT Images 2.5 model, which OpenAI says renders more natural lighting and textures with less lag.
- Google shipped a similar virtual try-on tool in July 2025, more than a year before this ChatGPT launch.
Why it matters
- Who's exposed exposure Any retailer's product can be tried on in ChatGPT from a screenshot, so shoppers judge items against an AI render the retailer never approved, whether or not it appears in ChatGPT's results.
- What it limits constraint Shortlists that used to sit in a retailer's wishlist can now sit in a ChatGPT Library, so a retailer's own save data can undercount the shoppers weighing its products.
- Who has to decide decision Commerce teams have to choose between building for decisions made in ChatGPT and purchases made there, and the only checkout evidence so far favors planning for decisions.
Next story · Product · Oct 8
Apple hands its deal team back to the CFO who scrapped its cash targetConfirmed4 publishers
A shopper on a retailer's product page takes a screenshot of a coat. She uploads it to ChatGPT with a full-body photo and asks to see it on [3][2]. If she likes the result, she saves the coat to her Library, where it sits next to the try-on image [6]. The launch coverage does not say whether retailers see any of what happens after the screenshot.
Digital Trends describes the intended loop. Shoppers discover items through try-on, decide by experimenting, then buy or save for later [12]. OpenAI also says ChatGPT will shop the pieces of a look the user describes, or find items for sale from a photo of a celebrity's outfit [8]. TechCrunch puts that in territory Pinterest and Google have held as fashion discovery that converts to sales for online retailers [5].
What users actually do is go to ChatGPT for ideas. According to Digital Trends, more than 1.2 billion people use it every week, and many already turn to it for shopping inspiration [14]. What commerce teams tend to tell themselves users do is finish the purchase in the same window. The one test of that so far went badly. OpenAI's Instant Checkout feature did not perform well, and the company had to pivot away from it, TechCrunch reported [10]. A single feature is a small sample, and it is the only evidence in these sources on whether people will pay inside ChatGPT.
Everything here depends on the render. OpenAI says Images 2.5 produces more natural lighting and richer textures, follows editing instructions more reliably and cuts generation latency [7]. Those are the company's claims. Digital Trends framed the open question as whether shoppers trust an AI's rendering of themselves [9]. Google has offered a comparable try-on since July 2025 [4].
Both features wait for the shopper to act, by pressing the try-on button or uploading a picture [2][3]. That design stays clear of the complaint against Instinct, the agentic AI startup whose proactive product recommendations struck some users as closer to ads than help [13].
In my view, commerce teams should treat ChatGPT as the place where shoppers consider and shortlist, and keep their checkout work on their own sites. The tradeoff is timing. OpenAI has tried in-chat checkout once [10], and if a better version comes back, teams that waited will be building late.
To size your own exposure, sort the catalog on two questions. The first is whether your products sell on how they look on a person; try-on covers clothing and accessories [2]. The second is whether your shoppers save items before they buy. Favorites keeps those saves in ChatGPT's Library [6], duplicating a function Digital Trends notes e-commerce sites already run [11]. Both yes puts you in the quadrant this launch was built for, and the figure to track is how quickly ChatGPT referrals to product pages convert. Looks without saving means try-on is your exposure. Saving without looks means Favorites competes with your wishlist. If neither applies, this launch changes little for your Monday.
What to watch
- A second OpenAI attempt at in-chat checkout would move the purchase into ChatGPT along with the try-on and the shortlist.
- Whether retailers get any reporting on the items shoppers try on or save to a ChatGPT Library.
- Independent tests of how accurately Images 2.5 renders fit and fabric on real shoppers' photos.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence65
Perspective Coverage
7 publishers- Builder
- Builder 22%
- Operator
- Operator 48%
- Investor
- Investor 30%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
On Thursday, OpenAI announced the global launch of two ChatGPT shopping features: a virtual try-on for clothing and accessories and a Favorites function for saving products.
- [2]
Virtual try-on lets ChatGPT users upload a selfie or full-body photo to visualize how clothing or an accessory might look on them; it appears as a new 'try on' button in ChatGPT's shopping results.
- [3]
Users can also upload an image of an item, such as a web screenshot, and ask ChatGPT to try it on for them.
- [4]
Google shipped a similar virtual try-on feature in July 2025.
- [5]
TechCrunch wrote that the celebrity-outfit capability moves ChatGPT into areas Pinterest and Google have dominated as sources for fashion inspiration and discovery that can convert to sales for online retailers.
- [6]
Favorites lets users save products they discover to a Library in the app, where they are stored alongside the user's try-on images.
- [7]
OpenAI said the features use the newly launched ChatGPT Images 2.5 model, which the company claims produces more natural lighting and richer textures, follows editing instructions more reliably, and reduces image generation latency.
- [8]
OpenAI said users can describe a style and ask ChatGPT to shop for the pieces to complete the look, or upload photos of celebrities' outfits and ask it to find items they are wearing that are available for purchase.
- [9]
Digital Trends wrote that whether shoppers trust an AI's rendering of themselves remains the real question.
- [10]
OpenAI had to pivot from an earlier idea in shopping, an instant checkout feature that ended up not performing well.
- [11]
Digital Trends noted that saving items for later is a feature e-commerce platforms already have.
- [12]
Digital Trends described the two features as working in tandem: users discover items via try-on, decide through experimentation, then either buy them or save them for later.
- [13]
Agentic AI startup Instinct began pushing product recommendations to users, and some felt the proactive recommendations were an overreach, more akin to ads than helpful suggestions.
- [14]
According to Digital Trends, ChatGPT has over 1.2 billion weekly users, many of whom turn to it for shopping inspiration.
Sources
6 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- businessinsider.comI tried ChatGPT’s new try-it-on shopping function. It worked for daily outfits, but couldn't handle a Halloween costume.
1 article · October 4, 2026
- digitaltrends.comOpenAI wants you to try on clothes inside ChatGPT before buying them - Digital Trends
1 article · October 1, 2026
- engadget.comChatGPT Can Now Help You Virtually Try On Clothes
2 articles · October 1, 2026
- pymnts.comPYMNTS | OpenAI Adds Virtual Try-On Feature to ChatGPT
2 articles · October 2, 2026
- runtimewire.comOpenAI adds virtual try-ons to ChatGPT's shopping results
1 article · October 1, 2026
- techcrunch.comOpenAI launches two ChatGPT shopping features: a virtual try-on tool for clothing and accessories, and a Favorites feature to save products to a user's Library
2 articles · October 1, 2026
- tomsguide.comYou can now virtually try on clothes with ChatGPT before you buy them — here’s how it works | Tom's Guide
1 article · October 2, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Conversational commerce
- Generative image models