- Google says qualified US shoppers can now browse, buy products with AI
- Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is a Google initiative, supported by major retailers
- Businesses can target customers with ads designed for AI customers
Google has announced plans to take the stress out of online shopping with a new agent AI e-commerce suite that will take care of product research, purchasing and even post-purchase support.
Company VP and GM of Ads & Commerce Vidhya Srinivasan explained in a blog post that the new tools build on 2025’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), designed to offer secure payments within the framework of agent AI.
The system relies on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), developed jointly by Google and a number of major retail partners such as Shopify, Etsy and Wayfair, so that agents and systems can interact in one “common language”.
Designed to work across multiple industries and platforms, it’s also supported by payment companies like Adyen, Amex, Mastercard, Visa and Stripe — but as of launch, we’re told it will only be available to qualified US retailers.
The front-end experience revolves around the Gemini app or the AI mode of Google Search. Since the AI retains information, Google’s new shopping assistant will pre-populate the checkout page and then store the shipping information in Google Wallet.
Along with a later global expansion, the company is also working on a richer shopping experience such as loyalty rewards integration.
At the same time, Google is launching a separate Business Agent that companies can use as their own virtual sales assistants to answer questions about their products. With this tool enabled and customized from Merchant Center, companies can train the agent on their data, access customer insights and promote related products.
A new Google Ads pilot, Direct Offers, will also target customers with exclusive offers that may only be available to customers using AI mode.
However, Google is not without its competition. OpenAI has already launched similar agentic shopping experiences within ChatGPT, and Microsoft launched a purchasing experience within Copilot chat with select retailers just days before Google’s announcement.
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