OpenAI is deepening its push into the retail and e-commerce sectors by introducing a new virtual try-on feature within ChatGPT, allowing users to see how clothing and accessories look on them prior to making a purchase.
Under the newly rolled-out functionality, users can either take a fresh selfie or upload an existing photo to generate customized images that demonstrate how various items will fit and appear on their specific body type and likeness. When browsing participating apparel and accessory listings within ChatGPT, shoppers will now encounter a dedicated "try on" button designed to bridge the gap between digital browsing and the physical fitting room experience.
This integration represents the latest move by OpenAI to court both everyday shoppers and major brands onto its rapidly expanding conversational AI platform. As the company continues to weave commercial and shopping features directly into ChatGPT, an increasing number of retailers are beginning to experiment with agentic AI storefronts and conversational commerce to reach consumers where they increasingly spend their time.
The trend has accelerated significantly over the past year. In April, David’s Bridal established a presence on Shopify’s Agentic Storefronts for ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. That integration allowed shoppers to seamlessly sift through the bridal retailer’s extensive assortment by specific silhouettes across both leading AI platforms. Shortly after, in May, Etsy debuted its own dedicated application directly on ChatGPT, bringing its vast marketplace of handmade and vintage goods into the conversational search ecosystem.
These retail integrations build upon foundational commercial tools introduced by OpenAI previously. Last year, the artificial intelligence company launched a comprehensive shopping research feature designed to intelligently recommend, filter, and compare products based on open-ended consumer search queries. By layering the new selfie-based try-on capability on top of these existing research functions, OpenAI is systematically building out a robust end-to-end shopping journey within a single chat interface.
With the launch of this visualization tool, OpenAI is also directly catching up to major competitors like Google, which has spent recent years aggressively deploying its own suite of product visualization technologies. Google debuted its pioneering generative artificial intelligence virtual try-on tool in 2023, initially allowing consumers to virtually drape and view women’s tops on a diverse range of models and body types. The following year, Google extended the sophisticated feature to include dresses, partnering with fashion brands such as Simkhai, before expanding the technology further to encompass footwear last year.
The rush by technology giants to incorporate virtual try-on capabilities is heavily driven by shifting consumer demands and proven commercial metrics. Before OpenAI and Google bolstered their respective platforms with advanced product visualization features, extensive retail research indicated that brands were actively seeking out these immersive tools as a primary driver for online sales growth.
According to a comprehensive 2024 survey conducted by Perfect Corp., brands and retailers that successfully implemented virtual try-on technology saw their online sales conversion rates more than double. Furthermore, consumer sentiment heavily favors the technology, with more than a third—specifically 38.4%—of survey respondents stating that virtual fitting rooms and try-on applications represent the ideal method for replicating and recreating physical shopping experiences within the digital landscape.
As consumer expectations for personalized and interactive shopping continue to evolve, the integration of generative AI visualization tools into everyday conversational platforms like ChatGPT signals a major shift in how digital retail will operate. By enabling shoppers to instantly visualize clothing and accessories using their own likeness, OpenAI is positioning its platform not just as a research assistant, but as an active, immersive storefront capable of driving tangible conversion gains for modern brands and retailers.