At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference today, Google unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an innovative open standard designed to facilitate AI agent-based shopping experiences.
This new standard, developed collaboratively with prominent companies such as Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, aims to enable AI agents to seamlessly manage various stages of the customer purchasing journey, from initial product discovery to post-purchase support. The fundamental concept behind UCP is to streamline these diverse process segments through a single standard, eliminating the need for separate connections with multiple agents.
Google also confirmed UCP’s compatibility with other agentic protocols, including the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)
— which Google announced last year
— as well as Agent2Agent (A2A) and Model Context Protocol (MCP). The company highlighted that both Agents and Businesses have the flexibility to select specific extensions of the protocol that best align with their individual requirements.
The company announced its upcoming integration of UCP into eligible Google product listings within AI mode in Search and the Gemini apps. This will allow shoppers researching products to complete purchases directly from U.S.-based retailers. Users will be able to process payments via Google Pay, utilizing shipping information stored in Google Wallet, with future support for PayPal as an additional payment option.
Shopify CEO and founder Tobi Lutke expressed enthusiasm for this development, stating, “This is one of the really exciting parts about agentic. It’s really good at finding people who have specific interests and finding the product that is just perfect for them. Like, I would have never searched for this product, but somehow it found me right on the other side. This kind of serendipity is where the best of commerce happens.”
In a related announcement, Shopify simultaneously revealed a similar integration with Microsoft Copilot for shopping, aiming to facilitate frictionless checkout experiences within conversational interfaces.
Another consumer-focused enhancement from Google involves allowing brands to present exclusive discounts to users seeking product recommendations through AI mode. For example, if a user queries, “I’m looking for a modern, stylish rug for a high-traffic dining room. I host a lot of dinner parties, so I want something that is easy to clean,” brands can configure campaigns to offer a timely discount during that interaction.
The company is also introducing new data attributes within the Merchant Center, enabling sellers to optimize how their products are displayed within AI search interfaces. Collaborations with companies like PayPal and OpenAI are also underway to enhance seller discoverability in AI chatbot results. Furthermore, startups such as the prompting company are assisting merchants in surfacing their products within AI-generated responses.
Google is now enabling merchants to embed a personalized, AI-powered Business Agent directly within Google Search to address customer inquiries. Merchants like Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark, and Reebok are already utilizing this feature. Competitors such as Meta and Shopify have been exploring AI-driven tools for businesses to enhance customer support and engagement.
The search giant additionally unveiled Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience (CX), a comprehensive suite designed to manage shopping and customer service operations for both retailers and restaurants.
Companies including Google, Amazon, Walmart, and OpenAI are actively introducing new standards and products to integrate AI into every aspect of shopping, benefiting both consumers and merchants. Earlier this month, Adobe reported a remarkable 693.4% increase in traffic to seller sites driven by generative AI during the holiday season, though the specific conversion of this traffic into sales was not detailed in the report.
This article has been revised to clarify that retailers can utilize AI agents within Google Search.