Google Announces a New Protocol to Facilitate Commerce Using AI Agents

Google’s new Universal Commerce Protocol lets AI agents shop across retailers seamlessly—learn how it changes e-commerce in 2026.
Matilda
Google Announces a New Protocol to Facilitate Commerce Using AI Agents
What Is the Universal Commerce Protocol—and Why Should Shoppers Care? Google just unveiled a game-changing standard for online shopping: the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) . Announced at the 2026 National Retail Federation (NRF) conference, UCP is an open framework designed to let AI agents handle everything from product discovery to post-purchase support—without switching between disconnected systems. If you’ve ever wished your digital assistant could truly shop for you, not just search, this is the breakthrough that makes it possible. And it’s launching soon in Google Search and Gemini for U.S. users. Credit: Google A Unified Language for AI-Powered Shopping Until now, AI shopping assistants operated in silos—each retailer or platform required its own integration, making seamless cross-brand experiences nearly impossible. UCP solves this by creating a common language that AI agents and businesses can use to communicate. Developed in collaboration with retail giants like Walmart, Targe…