Google’s Universal Cart shopping tool launches in the US

Shopping cart contents are now retained across Google Search and Gemini, offering a persistent collection of potential purchases.

Google has launched its "Universal Cart" shopping tool in the U.S., a feature previewed at Google I/O in May. This tool allows users to collect and monitor products from across Google Search and the Gemini app in a unified shopping cart. The intention is to simplify online shopping management by providing a central hub for browsing and tracking potential purchases from multiple retailers. Universal Cart also aims to keep shoppers informed about deals and product availability, with features to notify users of price drops or restocks for saved items. Additionally, the tool offers personalized assistance, such as considering credit card perks for payment decisions and surfacing relevant promo codes. Checkout integration is facilitated by Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard designed to enable collaboration between AI agents and retailers throughout the shopping journey.

The Universal Cart's integration with Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) signals a broader industry push towards standardized, interoperable e-commerce platforms. This open standard approach is designed to facilitate smoother interactions between AI shopping agents and retailers, potentially reducing friction in the checkout process and paving the way for more sophisticated AI-driven commerce experiences. Companies investing in or developing AI agents for shopping may find UCP a critical component for future integrations.

This launch places Google squarely in the accelerating race to infuse AI into e-commerce, competing with rivals like Amazon and OpenAI who are also exploring agentic commerce features. By centralizing shopping across its ecosystem and offering personalized deal alerts and payment optimization, Google aims to capture a larger share of consumer spending and shopping intent. Shoppers can expect more AI-enhanced convenience, but also increased data collection and potential vendor lock-in as these tools become more integrated into daily purchasing habits.