Google Debuts ‘Universal’ Protocol for Agentic Commerce

Google has launched an agentic commerce standard dubbed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP).

Announced Sunday (Jan. 11) at the National Retail Federation (NRF) annual event, the UCP is designed to “work across the entire shopping journey,” as Google said in a news release.

“UCP establishes a common language for agents and systems to operate together across consumer surfaces, businesses and payment providers,” Google said. “So instead of requiring unique connections for every individual agent, UCP enables all agents to interact easily.”

The release added that UPC is designed to work across verticals and is compatible with industry protocols such as Agent2Agent (A2A), Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

UCP was developed in collaboration with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart, and endorsed by companies that include Adyen, American Express, Best Buy, Flipkart, Macy’s, Mastercard, Stripe, The Home Depot, Visa and Zalando, the release added.

“To start, UCP will soon power a new checkout feature on eligible Google product listings in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, allowing shoppers to check out from eligible U.S. retailers right as they’re researching on Google,” the company said.

“The feature is built with security at its core: shoppers can buy confidently with Google Pay using payment methods and shipping info already saved in Google Wallet and soon, will be able to make a purchase with PayPal.”

Also Sunday, Google announced the introduction of launching Business Agent, a new way for shoppers to chat with brands within Google’s search function.

“It’s like a virtual sales associate that can answer product questions in a brand’s voice, enabling retailers to connect with consumers during critical shopping moments and help drive sales,” the release said, noting the feature would go live Monday (Jan. 12) with retailers such as Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark and Reebok.

The company also announced a series of partnerships with other retailers. For example, Home Depot has begun integrating Google Cloud’s Gemini models and Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience into its Magic Apron AI suite.

Supermarket giant Kroger is employing Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience to simplify and personalize meal planning.

And pizza chain Papa John’s is the first customer to “deploy Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience’s multimodal and multilingual Food Ordering agent that offers conversational AI capabilities across mobile apps, websites, telephone, kiosks, and in-car systems,” the news release added.