Shopify and Google Develop New Open Protocol That Could Make AI Shopping Ubiquitous

Shopify and Google are betting on agentic commerce, and to make it work, the two have jointly developed a new protocol that lets AI agents discover products, browse options, and complete purchases on a user’s behalf—all from a chat. The new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is an open-source standard that permits agents to connect with any merchant.

“Agentic commerce has so much potential to redefine shopping, and we want to make sure it can scale to every product a customer might want to purchase,” Vanessa Lee, Shopify’s vice president of product, remarks in a statement.

Other announcements the company is making include a new way to sell directly on Google Search, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot, as well as greater access to Shopify Catalog.

Introducing Universal Commerce Protocol

Universal Commerce Protocol works with any payment processor, including Shopify Payments. It allows AI agents to natively handle the entire purchasing flow on a customer’s behalf—making transactions effectively hands-free beyond the initial prompt from the human. And within that chat, customers can enter discount codes, enter their loyalty credentials, specify their preferred subscription billing frequency, or confirm the selling terms.

The protocol also gives merchants greater flexibility in the shopping experience, allowing agents to operate across any surface, interface, or commerce flow. Sellers are no longer limited to designing their stores only for humans clicking through pages. Not all buyers are the same, and UCP eases constraints on how commerce can work.

While agents can natively complete checkout on a customer’s behalf, the bots are restricted to the boundaries defined by both the merchant and the customer. This standard is flexible enough to work across any commerce stack and connection method, such as REST, MCP, or A2A. And when customer input is required, UCP will make that explicit, providing a standardized way for merchants to signal to bots exactly what information is needed before the transaction can proceed. Humans will still retain control over key decisions.

The release of UCP comes more than a month after Shopify‘s massive Winter release, in which the tech firm unveiled a host of AI tools designed to help merchants do more than automate tasks. The company is betting big that AI can be a growth engine for its users. Still, Shopify’s not alone in trying to accelerate agentic commerce. OpenAI has a similar offering, the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), which is also an open standard co-developed with Stripe. It’s designed to facilitate programmatic commerce between buyers, AI agents, and businesses. Although ACP initially supports U.S.-based Etsy sellers, it will soon expand to support Shopify merchants.

So what’s the difference between UCP and ACP? One key distinction is their developers: UCP is backed by Shopify and Google, both merchant-facing platforms, while ACP is backed by OpenAI and Stripe, which are primarily infrastructure-focused. Functionally, ACP is designed to standardize agentic checkout and transaction flows, whereas UCP takes a broader view, addressing how agents and merchants interact across all commerce surfaces and stages.

Nevertheless, this isn’t a zero-sum game. Having multiple protocols like UCP and ACP co-exist is normal—just look at MCP and A2A.

Google’s Vice President and General Manager of Merchant Shopping, Ashish Gupta, declares that agentic commerce necessitates a shared language across the shopping ecosystem and that UCP solves this problem. “Through our collaboration with partners like Shopify, we’re ensuring the protocol is interoperable and ready to meet the evolving demands of retailers and their customers,” he states.

Enabling Direct Selling in Google and Microsoft

Another step Shopify is taking to help its merchants extend their reach is by creating native shopping experiences on Google and Microsoft. Last month, Shopify launched Agentic Storefronts, tools to help merchants get their products discoverable in agentic conversations.

“One of the biggest concerns that I hear from merchants is, if there are agents out there…I want to make sure my products are there, and I want to make sure that my brand shows up accurately,” Lee remarked at the time. Today’s announcement is another step forward in this process.

Google will soon release a new native shopping experience tailored for Shopify merchants. These sellers can market their products directly in both the AI Mode in Google Search and Gemini, all managed within the Shopify admin. Select merchants will also be able to post exclusive deals directly in AI mode, a program that may soon expand.

Shopify is also bolstering its Microsoft integration, enabling its merchants to sell products directly through a new embedded checkout feature called Copilot Checkout. Perhaps analogous to OpenAI’s Instant Checkout, Microsoft’s tool lets customers shop directly in its AI chatbot.

“We’re excited about agentic shopping because it enables us to meet customers where they already are,” Victor Tam, CEO and co-founder of the Canadian travel gear brand Monos. “It’s a new way for our story and product details to show up at the exact moment someone is asking real questions with real intent, in a format that feels helpful, not intrusive. For a brand built on thoughtful design, it’s a natural next channel for discovery and trust.”

Making Shopify Catalog Open to All

Launched in May 2025, Shopify Catalog is a global product catalog that helps make products discoverable in AI tools and apps through an API. The company has been opening it up to more users over the months, with developers gaining access in December. Now, Shopify is granting access to brands that aren’t using its commerce platform.

Brands that subscribe to Shopify’s new Agentic plan can list their products in the Shopify Catalog. This means their goods can be sold not only on AI channels but also in the Shop app and through all Shopify Catalog partners.

Why would Shopify do this? One possible reason is that the company no longer views itself as a storefront platform. Instead, it believes it’s the underlying layer for digital commerce and has the potential to make a difference in this AI era. Another reason is that by expanding access, it’s capturing more data and influencing commerce flows, providing valuable insights for its search and recommendation engines and for strategic partnerships. Additionally, it’s another revenue generation program.

Shopify describes this Agentic plan as “connecting any brand, regardless of platform, to millions of customers by placing their products exactly where discovery happens. This means more choice for shoppers and a broader reach for brands. When commerce flows freely across the entire ecosystem, everyone wins.”

Featured Image: Credit: Shopify