- Google says eligible US shoppers can now browse and purchase products with AI
- Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is a Google initiative, supported by major retailers
- Businesses can target customers with ads designed for AI buyers
Google has announced plans to reduce the stress of online shopping with a new agentic AI e-commerce suite that will take care of product searches, purchases and even post-purchase support.
The company’s vice president and general manager of advertising and commerce, Vidhya Srinivasan, explained in a blog post that the new tools build on the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) of 2025, designed to offer secure payments within the confines of agentic AI.
The system leverages the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), co-developed by Google and a number of major commerce partners such as Shopify, Etsy and Wayfair, so that agents and systems can interact in a “common language”.
Built to work across industries and platforms, it’s also backed by payment companies like Adyen, Amex, Mastercard, Visa, and Stripe. However, upon launch, we were told that it would only be available to eligible US retailers.
The front-end experience revolves around the Gemini app or AI mode in Google Search. Since AI retains the information, Google’s new shopping assistant will pre-populate the checkout page and then store the shipping information in Google Wallet.
Along with further global expansion, the company is also working on a more comprehensive shopping experience, such as integrating loyalty rewards.
At the same time, Google is launching a separate Business Agent that businesses can use as their own virtual sales assistants to answer questions about their products. With this tool enabled and customized from Merchant Center, businesses can train the agent on their data, access customer information, and promote related products.
A new Google Ads pilot, Direct Offers, will also target buyers with exclusive offers that may be available only to buyers using AI mode.
However, Google is not without competition. OpenAI has already launched similar agent shopping experiences within ChatGPT, and Microsoft launched a shopping experience in Copilot chats with select retailers just days before Google’s announcement.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
