Google gives AI shopping agents cart, catalog, and loyalty features

Google has expanded the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) with shopping cart, catalog, and identity features to make online shopping easier for AI agents. The shopping cart function lets AI agents add multiple items to a store's cart at once. A new catalog feature gives agents access to real-time product data - including prices, variants, and availability - pulled directly from the retailer. An identity link lets logged-in shoppers on UCP platforms keep the same loyalty and membership benefits they'd get shopping directly with the retailer.

Google plans to integrate UCP into AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, and the Merchant Center will make it easier for smaller merchants to connect in the future. Partners like Commerce Inc, Salesforce, and Stripe are planning to support UCP on their platforms. Google first introduced UCP earlier this year alongside Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, Walmart, and more than 20 other companies including Visa and Zalando as an open standard for AI-powered shopping.