Google announced the launch of Universal Cart at Google I/O 2026, introducing an intelligent shopping cart designed to work across merchants and Google services as the company expands its push into agentic commerce. The new shopping experience is powered by Google’s AI systems and Shopping Graph, which contains more than 60 billion product listings.
Universal Cart acts as a centralized shopping hub that follows users across Google products, including Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail. Consumers can add products to their cart while browsing or interacting with Google services, and the cart will automatically monitor for price drops, deals and restocks. The platform also provides price history insights and personalized recommendations powered by Gemini models.
Google said the cart is designed to proactively solve shopping challenges using AI reasoning capabilities. For example, shoppers building a custom PC can receive alerts about incompatible parts along with alternative suggestions. Because Universal Cart is built on Google Wallet infrastructure, it can also analyze payment method perks, loyalty rewards and merchant offers to surface savings opportunities automatically.
The company also highlighted a streamlined checkout experience powered by the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). Consumers will be able to complete purchases using Google Pay in a few taps or transfer products directly to merchant sites for checkout. Initial participating merchants include Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair, as well as Shopify merchants including Fenty and Steve Madden.
Universal Cart will begin rolling out across Search and the Gemini app in the U.S. this summer, with YouTube and Gmail integrations arriving later.
Google also announced broader expansion plans for the Universal Commerce Protocol, which was co-developed with retail partners earlier this year. The company said the UCP-powered checkout experience will expand to Canada and Australia in the coming months, followed later by the U.K. Additional verticals, including hotel booking and local food delivery, are also expected to adopt the protocol.
Another major announcement was the introduction of the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), which is designed to allow AI agents to make secure purchases on behalf of users while operating within predefined spending and brand limits. Google said AP2 creates a verifiable and privacy-preserving connection between consumers, merchants and payment processors, while maintaining tamper-proof digital records for purchases and returns.
The AP2 system will begin rolling out to Google products in the coming months, starting with Gemini Spark.
KEY QUOTES:
“People shop across Google more than a billion times a day, powered by advanced AI and the Shopping Graph, the world’s most comprehensive catalog of over 60 billion product listings. As agentic technology advances, shopping has the opportunity to become even more powerful, intelligent and fun.”
“We’ve been building the foundation for agentic commerce, from a common language for agents with Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to the payments infrastructure to make agentic checkout seamless. Today at Google I/O 2026, we introduced the next step that brings this all together: the new Universal Cart.”
Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM Ads and Commerce, Google
