Introduced at the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2026 conference, UCP was developed to act as a common language for AI systems and retail platforms.
UCP is a product of Google’s collaboration with notable retailers such as Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart. Moreover, it has gained support from firms in the payments, retail, and commerce technology sectors, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Adyen, and Zalando.
In a post on X, Pichai expressed that AI agents will be integral to future shopping experiences. He also revealed that UCP will soon facilitate native checkout on AI Mode and the Gemini app, enabling users to make purchases seamlessly.
“AI agents will significantly influence how we shop in the near future. To help establish this, we joined forces with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart to develop the Universal Commerce Protocol, a new open standard for agents and systems to communicate across all steps of the shopping journey,” Pichai wrote.
AI agents will be a big part of how we shop in the not-so-distant future.
To help lay the groundwork, we partnered with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart to create the Universal Commerce Protocol, a new open standard for agents and systems to talk to each other across… pic.twitter.com/8gDxDWjF9q— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) January 11, 2026
UCP aims to standardize interactions between AI agents, merchants, and payment solutions, enabling users to issue commands like “find me a laptop under $1,000 and buy it,” allowing the agent to fulfill the order in one streamlined process.
The company asserts that UCP allows any compatible agent to engage with a merchant via a single setup, removing the need for retailers to establish separate connections for each AI assistant or platform.
According to Google, it also integrates with other agent protocols like the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), Agent2Agent (A2A), and Model Context Protocol (MCP). They mentioned that agents and businesses can choose specific extensions of the protocol that cater to their requirements.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke shared in a post on X that Shopify, along with Google, has launched the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP).
Shopify is building the foundation for agentic commerce.
Universal Commerce Protocol, which we co-developed with Google, is now live. UCP will make it faster for agents and retailers to integrate.It’s open by default, so platforms and agents can use UCP to start transacting… pic.twitter.com/Gs0vzvfjra
— tobi lutke (@tobi) January 11, 2026
“It’s open by default, so platforms and agents can utilize UCP to initiate transactions with any merchant. Major retailers are already adopting it. Agents can oversee everything from discovery to fulfillment, including discounts, subscriptions, and loyalty programs. We’ve taken all forms of commerce into consideration,” Lutke stated.
