Google has announced new features for the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). This open standard was developed in collaboration with the industry to make online shopping smoother. These features are becoming increasingly important, especially as artificial intelligence agents are shopping more and more.

Highlights:

  • Unified cart: AI agents can now add multiple products from the same store in a single transaction.
  • Real-time catalog: Instant access to a retailer's updated stock, variants, and prices will be provided.
  • Loyalty is preserved: Membership benefits (discounts, free shipping) will be tracked even when the customer is outside the brand's site.
  • Easy integration: A simplified onboarding process in Google Merchant Center will be rolled out in the coming months.

When talking about artificial intelligence in online commerce, the real question is not: Can AI shop for me? But: Can it do so without disrupting the experience? This is the problem that the UCP protocol is trying to solve.

An open standard, not a Google product

UCP is not a proprietary tool imposed by Google on the ecosystem. It was developed as an open standard in collaboration with industry players. This means that any retailer or platform can adopt it and choose the features they want. This modular logic is important: Each brand retains control over the experience it offers.

Tangible changes from new features

  • Multi-product cart addresses a simple yet prohibitive issue: Previously, an AI agent had to manage each product individually. With this update, it can create a complete cart with a single interaction, making it more suitable for how a customer shops.
  • Real-time catalog access is also a significant advancement. An AI agent can now instantly check if a size is available, the full price, or the variants of a product, and this information remains valid at the time of purchase.
  • Identity Linking focuses on a friction point that is often overlooked: the loss of loyalty benefits when leaving a brand's site. This identity link allows a connected customer to retain their discounts or free shipping, even if the shopping is initiated from Google's Search AI Mode or the Gemini app.

Accelerated deployment process

Google plans to integrate these capabilities into its platforms, Search in AI mode and Gemini, and is working to simplify the onboarding process in Google Merchant Center so that more retailers, especially smaller ones, can benefit from these features. Partners like Commerce Inc, Salesforce, and Stripe are also expected to implement UCP on their platforms in the near future.