In‑Chat Checkout Centralizes Commerce

When AI assistants host full checkout flows (payments, fulfillment integration) inside conversational UI, the platform — not the merchant — controls the customer relationship, pricing data, conversion analytics and defaults. That alters who owns post‑purchase contact, loyalty signals, and the primary monetization channel, concentrating leverage in assistant‑providers and reshaping intermediaries (payment processors, marketplaces) dynamics. — This centralizes commercial power in major AI platform vendors, with implications for competition, antitrust, merchant margins, consumer privacy and who governs payment and discovery defaults.