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Universal Commerce Protocol adds Cart, Catalogue, and Identity Linking
Google has announced three new optional capabilities for the Universal Commerce Protocol, the open standard designed to enable AI agents to interact with retailer infrastructure without hard-coded integrations. The additions reflect feedback from the first wave of UCP adopters and address practical gaps in the initial release.
What changed
The Cart capability allows agents to add multiple items from a single store to a shopping cart in one operation: mirroring how shoppers naturally build orders rather than forcing single-item purchases. Catalogue allows agents to query real-time product details, including variants, inventory levels, and pricing, before completing a transaction, reducing errors that arise from stale data. Identity Linking is perhaps the most commercially significant addition: it lets shoppers who are logged in on UCP-integrated platforms receive the same loyalty pricing and free shipping thresholds they would on the retailer's own site, removing one of the chief objections to in-chat purchasing.
Google also confirmed it is simplifying the UCP onboarding process in Merchant Centre, rolling out over the coming months. Commerce Inc, Salesforce, and Stripe are listed as forthcoming UCP implementers. The protocol currently powers checkout experiences in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app.
Why it matters for advertisers
For you, this means UCP is evolving from a basic checkout infrastructure to a loyalty-aware commerce layer. Retailers who delay onboarding will miss out on identity-linked personalisation as the ecosystem matures.
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Universal Commerce Protocol adds Cart, Catalogue, and Identity Linking
Google has announced three new optional capabilities for the Universal Commerce Protocol, the open standard designed to enable AI agents to interact with retailer infrastructure without hard-coded integrations. The additions reflect feedback from the first wave of UCP adopters and address practical gaps in the initial release.
The Cart capability allows agents to add multiple items from a single store to a shopping cart in one operation: mirroring how shoppers naturally build orders rather than forcing single-item purchases. Catalogue allows agents to query real-time product details, including variants, inventory levels, and pricing, before completing a transaction, reducing errors that arise from stale data. Identity Linking is perhaps the most commercially significant addition: it lets shoppers who are logged in on UCP-integrated platforms receive the same loyalty pricing and free shipping thresholds they would on the retailer's own site, removing one of the chief objections to in-chat purchasing.
Google also confirmed it is simplifying the UCP onboarding process in Merchant Centre, rolling out over the coming months. Commerce Inc, Salesforce, and Stripe are listed as forthcoming UCP implementers. The protocol currently powers checkout experiences in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app.
For you, this means UCP is evolving from a basic checkout infrastructure to a loyalty-aware commerce layer. Retailers who delay onboarding will miss out on identity-linked personalisation as the ecosystem matures.
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