ChatGPT has announced that it will integrate UPI payments, marking a turning point in the evolution of conversational commerce. What began as an AI platform for dialogue, search, and creativity is now stepping into transactional territory, enabling users to shop, pay bills, or transfer money through simple chat commands. With brands like BigBasket and Airtel Payments Bank already onboard, the future of AI assistants in India looks less like an experiment and more like an everyday utility.
This seamless transaction layer has significant implications for how consumers discover, choose, and stay loyal to brands. When AI manages the shopping journey from search to checkout, brand visibility and differentiation are no longer guaranteed.
Talking about rethinking customer journeys now that transactions can happen entirely within chat interfaces, Preeti Jain, Head of Product & Design, bigbasket, shares that the brand is not totally seeing chat replacing traditional journeys, rather, it adds a new layer of access and convenience.
For most users, especially in high-frequency categories like grocery, some orders are quick with few items and some require browsing and discovery to shop.
“In the first case, agentic commerce will add value. In the second case the app remains the anchor because it supports richer exploration and visual decision-making. That said, chat unlocks interesting possibilities for habitual and quick tasks, reorders, simple replenishments, or status checks, where users value speed over browsing. Instead of redesigning everything around chat, we’re rethinking how to extend existing journeys into conversational moments,” she states.
Embedding payments into AI chats brings its own set of challenges. The interface must be simple enough for a one-tap purchase, yet secure enough to protect financial and personal data exchanged in real time. As AI systems sit between consumers and brands, questions emerge around who controls transaction insights, how consent is captured, and whether users clearly understand what they’re authorising.
Beerud Sheth, Founder and CEO, Gupshup, says that the key is designing for trust, consent, and control. He believes that every in-chat transaction should feel as safe as a bank app, with explicit user confirmation, tokenised payments, and transparent data handling.
Sheth highlights that Gupshup’s platform integrates directly with trusted rails like UPI, ensuring payments happen securely within the chat without exposing sensitive information. “The goal is to make transactions effortless, not intrusive. Our platform has strict controls on logging, storage, data retention/deletion of PII and sensitive information related to payments, in compliance with guidelines from the clients,” he adds.
For brands and merchants, the shift to AI-led payment experiences could open new pathways to build deeper customer relationships. When purchase intent and transaction happen in the same conversation, companies can offer more personalised recommendations, timely offers and loyalty rewards that feel native to the moment.
Atish Bhatia, Chief Marketing Officer, FiatPe, says the biggest shift is in how trust is built. “When payments happen in-conversation, trust and relevance grow exponentially,” he notes, adding that brands can now tailor offers using signals like tone, frequency and sentiment during interactions.
He points to real-time rewards as a powerful lever. For instance, a business owner instantly sending a “thank-you cashback” the moment a loyal customer completes a chat-based transaction. For larger brands, Bhatia says the advantage is seamless continuity: “It enables frictionless experiences from product inquiry to checkout to post-purchase service - all in one thread,” he notes.
As AI takes over more of the shopping journey, the line between a brand’s assistant and its primary consumer interface is rapidly dissolving. What was once a support channel is increasingly becoming the storefront itself, like recommending products, comparing offers, managing orders and now closing payments, all within a single conversation.
Sheth says the shift is already visible. The line between ‘assistant’ and ‘brand interface’ is blurring fast. “AI assistants are becoming the new storefronts. They are guiding discovery, answering questions, and even completing payments, all in a single, seamless chat.”
He adds that Gupshup’s platform is helping brands “blend the familiarity of messaging with the power of automation, so the assistant doesn’t just represent the brand; it embodies it.” Over time, he argues, this transition “will redefine loyalty, turning everyday chats into continuous customer relationships.”
Marketers are also rethinking how conversational insights can strengthen retention strategies. Jain says fundamentals still matter. “Loyalty is rooted in assortment, reliability, pricing and service experience,” she points out. While chat interfaces can boost repeat behaviour, she cautions they “make the journey easier, but not necessarily stickier.” She expects discovery to evolve first, finding the best price or offer becomes simpler, changing the pre-buying journey.”
“Personalised nudges, reminders, or assistance can increase frequency of purchase and influence habit formation, but that’s an evolution, not an immediate jump. For now, BigBasket is positioning conversational touchpoints as an additive convenience layer, not a loyalty engine in themselves,” she remarks.
Others believe conversational data could unlock a deeper understanding of customer intent. Bhatia argues that chat-based interactions reveal signals traditional metrics can’t. “Conversational data captures emotion and intent — something traditional analytics often miss,” he says.
These insights can help brands “identify purchase triggers, hesitation points, or even language patterns that signal loyalty or churn.” As payments move into chat, Bhatia sees an opportunity to redesign loyalty programs entirely: “Imagine knowing why a customer buys, not just what they buy.”
