HomeGoogle Unveils AI Agent Protocol for Streamlined Commerce
At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference, Google introduced a new open standard named the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), designed for AI-driven shopping agents.
Developed in partnership with major retailers including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, this standard enables AI agents to operate across various stages of the customer journey—from product discovery to post-purchase assistance. The central concept is that UCP can streamline these diverse processes, eliminating the need to coordinate multiple specialized agents.
Google highlighted that UCP is compatible with other agent protocols such as the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)—announced last year—Agent2Agent (A2A), and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Businesses and developers can adopt specific extensions of the protocol that best fit their operational needs.
Image Credits: Google The company plans to integrate UCP into eligible Google product listings within AI-powered search and Gemini apps. This will allow U.S. shoppers to complete purchases directly from retailers while researching products. Users can pay through Google Pay and utilize saved shipping details from Google Wallet, with PayPal support coming soon.
"The most exciting aspect of agentic commerce is its ability to connect people with products they wouldn't have searched for," remarked Shopify CEO and founder Tobi Lütke. "It excels at identifying specific interests and matching users with ideal items, creating serendipitous discoveries that often lead to the best shopping experiences."
Notably, Shopify also revealed a comparable integration with Microsoft Copilot, enabling seamless in-conversation checkout for shoppers.
In another consumer-focused enhancement, Google will enable brands to present targeted discounts to users actively seeking product recommendations through AI search. For example, when someone queries, "I need a modern, durable rug for a busy dining room that's easy to clean," participating merchants can configure their campaigns to offer immediate promotional pricing.
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Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist
Secure your spot on the Disrupt 2026 waitlist for priority access to Early Bird tickets. Previous Disrupt conferences have featured industry pioneers from Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla among 250+ leaders delivering 200+ growth-focused sessions. Discover hundreds of startups driving innovation across all industries.
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Image Credits: Google Google is introducing new data attributes in Merchant Center to help sellers optimize their product visibility in AI search results. Companies including PayPal and OpenAI are similarly developing solutions to enhance merchant discoverability in AI chatbot interactions, while startups like The Prompting Company collaborate with retailers to feature products within AI-generated responses.
Merchants can now deploy branded AI Business Agents within Google Search to address customer inquiries directly. Retailers such as Lowe's, Michael's, Poshmark, and Reebok are already implementing this feature. Competitors including Meta and Shopify are also advancing AI tools for business customer support and engagement.
The search giant also launched Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX), a comprehensive suite tailored for retail and restaurant shopping and service operations.
Tech leaders like Google, Amazon, Walmart, and OpenAI continue to introduce new standards and products that embed AI throughout the shopping ecosystem. Earlier this month, Adobe reported a 693.4% surge in generative AI-driven traffic to merchant sites during the holiday season, though the conversion rate of this traffic remains unspecified.
This article has been updated to clarify that retailers can deploy AI agents within Google Search
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At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference, Google introduced a new open standard named the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), designed for AI-driven shopping agents.
Developed in partnership with major retailers including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, this standard enables AI agents to operate across various stages of the customer journey—from product discovery to post-purchase assistance. The central concept is that UCP can streamline these diverse processes, eliminating the need to coordinate multiple specialized agents.
Google highlighted that UCP is compatible with other agent protocols such as the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)—announced last year—Agent2Agent (A2A), and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Businesses and developers can adopt specific extensions of the protocol that best fit their operational needs.
The company plans to integrate UCP into eligible Google product listings within AI-powered search and Gemini apps. This will allow U.S. shoppers to complete purchases directly from retailers while researching products. Users can pay through Google Pay and utilize saved shipping details from Google Wallet, with PayPal support coming soon.
"The most exciting aspect of agentic commerce is its ability to connect people with products they wouldn't have searched for," remarked Shopify CEO and founder Tobi Lütke. "It excels at identifying specific interests and matching users with ideal items, creating serendipitous discoveries that often lead to the best shopping experiences."
Notably, Shopify also revealed a comparable integration with Microsoft Copilot, enabling seamless in-conversation checkout for shoppers.
In another consumer-focused enhancement, Google will enable brands to present targeted discounts to users actively seeking product recommendations through AI search. For example, when someone queries, "I need a modern, durable rug for a busy dining room that's easy to clean," participating merchants can configure their campaigns to offer immediate promotional pricing.
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San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 WAITLIST NOWGoogle is introducing new data attributes in Merchant Center to help sellers optimize their product visibility in AI search results. Companies including PayPal and OpenAI are similarly developing solutions to enhance merchant discoverability in AI chatbot interactions, while startups like The Prompting Company collaborate with retailers to feature products within AI-generated responses.
Merchants can now deploy branded AI Business Agents within Google Search to address customer inquiries directly. Retailers such as Lowe's, Michael's, Poshmark, and Reebok are already implementing this feature. Competitors including Meta and Shopify are also advancing AI tools for business customer support and engagement.
The search giant also launched Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX), a comprehensive suite tailored for retail and restaurant shopping and service operations.
Tech leaders like Google, Amazon, Walmart, and OpenAI continue to introduce new standards and products that embed AI throughout the shopping ecosystem. Earlier this month, Adobe reported a 693.4% surge in generative AI-driven traffic to merchant sites during the holiday season, though the conversion rate of this traffic remains unspecified.
This article has been updated to clarify that retailers can deploy AI agents within Google Search
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