Google launched its Universal Commerce Protocol at the National Retail Federation's 2026 conference in New York on Sunday. The open standard establishes a common language for AI agents to handle shopping from discovery through post-purchase support.
UCP will power a new checkout feature in Google's AI Mode and Gemini app, allowing users to buy eligible products directly within search results. The system initially uses Google Pay with saved payment and shipping details, with PayPal support planned for future integration.
Google developed the protocol with retail partners including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target. More than 20 additional companies across retail and payments have endorsed UCP, including Walmart, Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, and American Express.
The protocol introduces three key features for retailers. Business Agent creates branded virtual sales associates that answer product questions in a brand's voice. Early adopters include Lowe's, Michaels, Poshmark, and Reebok.
Direct Offers enables retailers to present exclusive discounts when AI detects shopping intent. Google is testing this feature alongside ads in AI Mode, with plans to expand to bundles and free shipping incentives.
UCP works with existing industry protocols like Agent2Agent, Agent Payment Protocols, and Model Context Protocol. Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president of Google ads and commerce, said the protocol enables easier interaction between agents.
"Instead of requiring unique connections for every individual agent, UCP enables all agents to interact easily," she stated. "Businesses can pick and choose what they want so there's flexibility for them."
The announcement comes as AI-powered shopping becomes a major battleground among tech giants. OpenAI launched Instant Checkout in September 2025, allowing purchases through ChatGPT with transaction fees. Perplexity partnered with PayPal in May 2025 for in-chat purchases and rolled out free agentic shopping for U.S. users in November.
Amazon introduced Shop Direct earlier in 2025, featuring a "Buy for Me" AI agent that purchases products from third-party websites using stored payment information. However, some smaller brands have complained about unauthorized product listings through Amazon's system.
McKinsey estimates agentic commerce could represent a $3 trillion to $5 trillion global opportunity by 2030. The consulting firm's October 2025 report highlighted AI-powered tools as a transformative force in retail.
Google's protocol aims to reduce cart abandonment by streamlining the purchase process within AI interfaces. Retailers maintain merchant of record status while gaining access to features like related product recommendations, loyalty rewards, and custom shopping experiences.
Industry analysts note potential challenges with the agentic commerce model. Richard Crone, CEO of Crone Consulting, told American Banker that merchants risk losing the "last touch point" when checkouts occur through Gemini rather than their own sites.
"That accounts for 33% to 76% of upsell and cross-sell opportunities," Crone said. "You're going to let somebody shop using your inventory and close the sale off-site? That has the potential to dramatically erode your franchise value."
Google plans to roll out additional UCP features in coming months, including loyalty point integration, related product discovery, and enhanced customization options. The company is also testing data attributes within its Merchant Seller tool to optimize product listings for AI search.
The Universal Commerce Protocol represents Google's second major agentic commerce initiative in two years. The company launched its Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2) in 2025, establishing a payment-agnostic framework for users, merchants, and payment processors.
Shopify vice president Vanessa Lee emphasized the protocol's scalability in a statement. "Shopify has a history of building checkouts for millions of unique retail businesses," Lee said. "We have taken everything we've seen over the decades to make UCP a robust commerce standard that can scale."
As consumer behavior shifts toward conversational commerce, Google's protocol positions the company at the center of AI-driven retail. The open standard approach contrasts with proprietary systems, potentially creating a more interoperable ecosystem for AI shopping agents across platforms.
