At the National Retail Federation’s 2026 conference, Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). Created with major retailers and payment partners, the protocol allows AI tools like Google’s Gemini and AI Mode to offer native checkouts, personalized offers, and smooth shopping without leaving the AI interface.
Many global retailers and payment platforms, including American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Best Buy, Flipkart, and Shopify, have endorsed the protocol. Their support shows strong commercial interest in AI-driven commerce across e-commerce platforms, traditional retailers, and financial systems.
UCP is an open industry-standard protocol that will let users complete purchases directly within AI interfaces. It creates a common language for AI agents, merchants, payment systems, and services to work together without custom integrations. Users can shop and pay directly inside AI tools like Google Search AI Mode and Gemini.
Google and Gemini AI Mode already let shoppers browse products, build carts, and complete purchases inside the AI assistant without visiting external websites.
For example, Walmart uses UCP to integrate its product catalogs and carts directly into the Gemini chat experience. This marks a shift away from traditional search-and-redirect shopping models toward AI-guided conversational commerce.
Google is also adding personalized shopping ads in AI interfaces. These ads offer retailers ways to promote discounts, bundles, and free shipping based on user behavior. This creates a new revenue source and makes AI commerce not just a convenience feature but also a monetizable advertising channel.
This move is part of a broader evolution toward agent-led commerce, which could transform retail by automating product discovery, comparison, checkout, and fulfillment. It also increases competition as other tech companies build AI commerce tools.
UCP works alongside earlier standards such as the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), which lets AI agents initiate and authorize payments securely with cryptographic proof of user intent. Together, these protocols aim to create a secure, scalable, and interoperable AI commerce ecosystem.
