Walmart gets onboard with OpenAI’s ChatGPT fashion push as virtual try-on and favourites launch
Shoppers can use selfies to visualise clothing and accessories, explore looks from screenshots and save finds before buying through retailers’ websites.
A dress spotted on social media, an outfit for an autumn wedding or a new style to try: OpenAI is adding tools to ChatGPT that let shoppers move from an idea to an image of themselves wearing it, with Walmart among the retailers involved from launch.
The new Virtual Try On and Favourites features allow users to visualise clothing and accessories using their own photographs, then save products to return to later. Shoppers can describe what they want, upload an image of an item or use a screenshot as the starting point for a search.
Walmart is bringing its fashion range into the experience. Daniel Danker, EVP AI Acceleration, Product, and Design, said on LinkedIn that the US retail giant was working with OpenAI “from day one” to make its fashion available through Virtual Try On, Shop this Look and Favourites.
Sharing an example himself, he added: “Found something I like. Think I should I buy it?”
A selfie and a screenshot
OpenAI gives the example of shopping for a dress for an autumn wedding in Vermont. A user can upload a photograph of themselves alongside a screenshot of a dress they are considering and ask ChatGPT to generate a virtual try-on.
The search can also start with a description, such as a black-tie dress with a halter neckline, or inspiration from a celebrity outfit or a look found on social media. For clothing and accessories shown in shopping results, users can select “Try on” and take or upload a selfie. Alternatively, they can add a product image directly to a conversation and ask to see how it might look on them.
“See it. Try it on. Save it for later,” OpenAI says in its Instagram post introducing the tools.
Favorites gives those discoveries a home in ChatGPT’s Library, where users can bookmark products and organise them into folders. The launch announcement says shoppers can revisit saved items and their try-on images before making purchases through merchants’ websites.
The generated pictures have limitations. OpenAI says they may not reproduce the person or product exactly and do not guarantee size or fit. Reference photographs are retained for future try-ons, with options to change or delete them in settings.
Another fashion shopping channel for Walmart
Walmart’s involvement builds on its existing relationship with OpenAI. In October 2025, the retailer announced plans to let customers shop through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout, covering purchases made within the chatbot. The new fashion announcement also describes journeys that take shoppers to merchants’ own websites to buy.
Virtual try-on is already part of Walmart’s online fashion business. In September 2022, it introduced Be Your Own Model, using technology from its Zeekit acquisition to show clothing on customers’ own photographs. Walmart said that service covered more than 270,000 items at launch, including Free Assembly, Scoop and other own label and national brands. The figure describes its earlier offering; the supplied announcement does not specify how many Walmart products are supported in the new ChatGPT experience.
OpenAI says its new features build on ChatGPT Images 2.5 and will be available globally across all ChatGPT consumer plans on mobile, web and desktop.
So hot right now
OpenAI is included in RTIH’s first ever Retail Technology Hot 100 List. Launching in August, this sees us bringing you the hottest companies whose solutions and systems are helping drive the retail sector forward.
Our Founder and Editor, Scott Thompson, drew up a list of 150 companies that had consistently been on his radar over the past 12 months whilst bringing our community the latest retail tech news and views that matter. These companies operate across the omnichannel retail landscape (stores, online, mobile, supply chain, payments etc).
Our judging panel, including Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett, Dan McGrath, JD Group Customer Operations, JD Sports, Dr. Astha Purohit, Director of Product Management, Customer Data and Identity, Walmart, and Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots, provided feedback on those who have the most innovative, forward thinking technology offerings and are also best addressing retailers' current challenges, painpoints, and opportunities.
The judges used the following framework when making their picks:
1. Retailer problem fit - how meaningful, strategic, and widely felt the retailer pain being addressed is.
2. Production traction in retail (2025–2026) - real named retailer deployments, pilots.
3. Innovation and defensibility - genuine technical novelty paired with a defensible competitive position.
And there was also a public vote, with thousands of members of our community of retail tech enthusiasts getting involved. Thanks to all those who took part! Based on the judging panel's feedback and the public vote, we then drew up our first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100.
So, without further ado, here are the 100 hottest global retail technology ventures right now. Drum roll, please…
