Agentic e-commerce could rewire business travel

Over the past decade, e-commerce evolved from static online catalogs to dynamic, personalized storefronts. Now, we stand at the cusp of a new phase: agentic commerce, where AI agents not only guide but execute purchases on your behalf. And that shift will ripple deeply into how companies buy - and especially how employees travel.

Chat → Checkout: From conversation to transaction

The concept of chat to checkout is simple: skip the traditional funnel of search → browse → cart → checkout, and instead transact right from the conversation. OpenAI’s recent launch of “Instant Checkout” within ChatGPT exemplifies this leap: users can now research a product or service and immediately purchase it entirely within the chat interface.

At the launch last week, only seven integrated apps were announced, including Booking.com, Expedia, Canva and Figma. The fact that two of the seven launch apps are travel based is a very strong signal. It signals that the architects of the AI ecosystem see travel as a domain ready for deep conversational integration. In effect, Booking.com and Expedia become “first movers” in proving the viability of chat-based travel booking for consumers.

That act alone suggests OpenAI expects users will complete significant travel purchases end-to-end within ChatGPT itself, bypassing airline or hotel websites entirely. For the entire corporate travel ecosystem, that has significant disruptive potential.

What share of online purchases might shift into chat over time?

• In the next 12–24 months, it is estimated we might see 5–10 % of e-commerce migrate toward in-chat or agentic flows.
• Over a 5-year horizon, that share could expand to 20–30 % or more, particularly in categories optimized for AI-assisted decisioning (Hello travel category).
• Travel booking, an intersection of services, comparisons, and loyalty programs looks especially ripe for disruption and could see a much higher uptake given the signals referenced above.

As chat agents become more trusted and capable, users will increasingly expect to just ask and have things handled.

The OpenAI in-chat app ecosystem: Opening the floodgates

At OpenAI’s recent developer event, only that select group of 7 apps were embedded directly into ChatGPT, but there are another 11 in the works including Uber, TripAdvisor, OpenTable and DoorDash. Any of these sound relevant for business travelers? You bet they are.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout means users can buy directly from over a million Shopify merchants. Pretty soon there won’t be much you can’t purchase in a chat→checkout seamless experience.

OpenAI described the shift as “the next step in agentic commerce, where ChatGPT doesn’t just help you find what to buy, it also helps you buy it. For shoppers, it’s seamless: go from chat to checkout in just a few taps. For sellers, it’s a new way to reach hundreds of millions of people while keeping full control of their payments, systems, and customer relationships.”

So what does this mean for travel managers, Travel Management Companies and travel suppliers?

How business travelers may behave differently

As agentic commerce becomes more mainstream and seamless, the traditional “front doors” of shopping and booking might shift dramatically. Traditional Google searches and website browsing is all but eliminated in agentic e-commerce, and the shop fronts become ChatGPT, Gemini, Co-pilot and other AI interfaces.

When it comes to your employees booking travel they might increasingly:

• Skip the “official portal first” mindset and just ask their AI assistant: “Book me a 3-star downtown hotel for Tuesday to Thursday in Frankfurt.”
• Favor flexibility: they may accept AI-recommended itineraries, trusting the system to optimize cost, convenience, and policy compliance as well as they could.
• Expect integration: why should they have to leave Slack, or CoPilot, or whatever workplace AI agents they access to book a trip when they can do most other things in those channels.

But with the seamless vision of agentic shopping there’s also friction on the horizon: procurement and travel teams will ultimately need confidence in agent accuracy, transparency, and guardrails (e.g. policy constraints, duty of care) for it to ultimately become a trusted way of supporting their travelers.

Conclusion

Agentic commerce is no longer just a speculative vision - it’s here right now. OpenAI’s launch of Instant Checkout and its embedding of travel apps like Booking.com and Expedia signal that conversational booking is moving from sci-fi to real. In the coming years, we will likely see a meaningful share of travel purchases handled via chat agents.

For corporate travel programs, the impact may well be significant. It will likely require companies to rethink policy, redesign their travel booking systems to incorporate agents, and embrace AI as the next interface - not the enemy. The companies that move fastest will capture the upside; those that cling to legacy flows may find their travelers going agent-first - and their control slipping away.

At Serko, we see this as a once in a generation opportunity to eliminate the friction from business travel and make face to face easy. Agentic commerce is here, and we’re ready to bring business travelers on the journey with us to this exciting new world of business without barriers

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