By Mohamed Ali - Reporter
Kenya, January 13, 2026 - Artificial intelligence is no longer just helping shoppers compare products or answer questions. It is being positioned to complete purchases on their behalf, a shift that could fundamentally alter how online commerce works. Google this week unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a new framework designed to standardise how shopping tools, platforms, and applications interact. The aim is to allow AI systems to move seamlessly across the entire buying journey: discovery, evaluation, selection, and checkout.
UCP is being rolled out across Google’s AI Mode and the Gemini app, signalling the company’s ambition to make conversational commerce a default experience rather than a novelty. Instead of navigating multiple product pages, users could rely on AI assistants to compare options, verify details, and complete transactions within a single interface.
Alongside UCP, Google is piloting Direct Offers within AI Mode enabling brands to surface real-time discounts directly inside conversational search results. Rather than chasing promo codes, users may encounter price reductions at the precise moment they signal purchase intent.
Google is also testing a Business Agent, a brand-specific AI assistant that can answer product questions, clarify policies, and guide buyers in a company’s own voice. Unlike traditional chatbots, these agents are designed to operate across search and AI environments, blurring the line between customer support and sales.
Why this matters
Taken together, these changes point to a broader transition: shopping interfaces are shifting from websites to AI systems. The question is no longer whether AI can recommend products, but whether it can safely and reliably act on a consumer’s behalf.
If implemented effectively, AI-led commerce could reduce friction, minimise purchasing errors, and improve post-sale support such as order tracking, returns, and exchanges. However, it also concentrates power at the interface layer — placing greater importance on operating systems, permissions, and trust mechanisms.
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Implications for businesses and builders
The new model raises urgent strategic questions for brands and technology firms. Smaller businesses may need simplified tools to integrate with UCP without heavy engineering resources. Pricing strategies may become dynamic, with AI deciding when to deploy discounts based on user behaviour. Trust safeguards- spending limits, confirmation steps, and transparent receipts will be critical to user adoption.
Equally important is product data quality. AI-driven purchasing depends on accurate, structured information about size, compatibility, availability, and policies. Tools that standardise and clean product data are likely to become essential infrastructure.
The bigger picture
Google’s move reflects a growing consensus across the tech industry: the next battleground for AI is not the model itself, but control over the operating environment where decisions are executed.
As commerce becomes increasingly automated, the ability to integrate, govern, and safeguard AI actions will define winners and losers. The future of online shopping may depend less on who shouts loudest and more on who builds systems people trust enough to let an AI buy on their behalf.
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