Google Intensifies Competition in AI-Powered Shopping
Google is stepping up its game in the AI shopping arena, revealing plans to transform Gemini into a shopping assistant and introducing an open-source standard developed in collaboration with major retailers like Shopify, Walmart, and Target. This initiative comes as competitors such as OpenAI, Amazon, and Perplexity vie for dominance in the rapidly evolving AI-driven shopping landscape, where consumers are increasingly leveraging technology to enhance their purchasing experiences.
During the National Retail Federation’s annual conference, Google announced its partnerships with Shopify, Target, Walmart, Wayfair, and Etsy to create a protocol aimed at becoming the go-to standard for AI-assisted shopping. Dubbed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), this standard is designed to improve communication between AI agents and retailers throughout the shopping journey, from discovering products to making payments and receiving post-purchase support. Google’s VP of ads and commerce, Vidhya Srinivasan, emphasized that UCP establishes a common language for AI tools and online shopping systems.
The new standard will enable a forthcoming “checkout feature” on Search and Gemini, allowing users to make purchases directly through AI tools without needing to switch between different apps or web pages. This feature aims to align Gemini and Google’s AI Mode in Search with rivals like Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which introduced purchasing capabilities last year.
Google envisions UCP becoming widely adopted across the retail and e-commerce sectors, which are rapidly evolving into a competitive space for demonstrating the real-world benefits of generative AI. Being open-source, UCP allows companies to utilize it freely, avoiding the need to create their own solutions for interacting with AI agents. It is also compatible with existing industry standards, such as the Model Context Protocol. UCP will compete with OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, which was launched last year and is also open-source.
The UCP has already garnered support from over 20 companies within the online shopping ecosystem, including major payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, and Stripe, as well as retailers such as The Home Depot, Macy’s, Best Buy, Kroger, Lowe’s, Gap, and Zalando. Ant Group, associated with Alibaba, has also backed the standard. Many of these partners are likely to collaborate with other AI firms as well. For instance, Shopify merchants can sell through AI modes on Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot, while PayPal has teamed up with OpenAI.
In addition to the buy button on Gemini and the UCP standard, Google is launching a business agent that will enable shoppers to interact with brands directly on Search. This feature allows users to chat with a virtual assistant from the brand, which can respond to product inquiries in the brand’s unique voice. Retailers like Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark, and Reebok are among the first to participate.
These announcements reflect a significant investment in AI-driven shopping, with companies like Amazon integrating AI into nearly every aspect of the shopping experience. While the technology is still proving its effectiveness—some experiences have been less than smooth—there is a strong belief in the potential of AI agents to shape the future of shopping. Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the new standard is laying the “groundwork” for agentic shopping, which he believes will play a crucial role in how we shop in the near future.
