Agent Commerce
UCP
An open specification co-developed by Google and Shopify covering four stages of an agent purchase: product discovery, capability negotiation, checkout, and post-purchase handoff. Announced at NRF in January 2026 with 20+ retailers, payment networks and processors, and wired into Google's AI Mode in Search and the Gemini apps.
Why it matters
It is the standard with the most distribution behind it, because it ships inside Google Search and Shopify simultaneously. For most DTC merchants it is the one that arrives whether or not they evaluate it.
In practice
Shopify merchants got it by default in the Winter 2026 Edition. The operator work is the same as everywhere else in agent commerce: accurate structured product data, since the protocol only transmits what your catalogue says.
Related terms