UCP aims to reduce transaction friction and establish an interoperable alternative to closed shopping ecosystems like Amazon’s.

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The New Stack

Google launched the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open-source standard designed to enable AI agents to execute seamless shopping transactions across platforms. Co-developed with major retailers including Shopify, Walmart, Target, and Etsy, UCP standardizes the entire commerce workflow from discovery to post-purchase support, sitting above existing protocols like Agent2Agent and Model Context Protocol. The protocol uses familiar web standards like OAuth 2.0 and REST endpoints, allowing merchants to declare capabilities that AI agents can dynamically discover and invoke. This positions Google to compete with Amazon's closed ecosystem and OpenAI/Stripe's Agentic Commerce Protocol in the emerging AI-driven commerce space.

Shopify, Walmart Endorse Google’s New Open Commerce Protocol

The New Frictionless Shopping Flow With UCP

UCP as a Modular Standard for Merchant Capabilities

UCP’s Technical Architecture and Web Standards

The Competitive Landscape for AI Commerce Protocols