Overview
- At Google I/O on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Google introduced Universal Cart as part of a suite of agentic commerce products that move shopping from separate retailer sites into a single, persistent hub inside Google.
- Universal Cart works across Google surfaces so users can add items from Search, the Gemini app, YouTube and Gmail into one cart that uses Gemini models to track price changes, alert on restocks, show price history and flag product incompatibilities.
- Google said checkout from the Universal Cart will use the Universal Commerce Protocol and allow many merchants to offer Google Pay while remaining the merchant of record, with initial partners including Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta, Walmart, Wayfair and Shopify sellers.
- The Agent Payments Protocol, or AP2, will let users set firm guardrails for AI agents to buy on their behalf and will record tamper‑proof digital mandates and audit trails; Google plans to roll AP2 into its products starting with Gemini Spark in the coming months.
- Retailers and analysts say the changes could shift traffic, attribution and measurement toward Google and increase the importance of accurate Merchant Center feeds, while open questions remain about returns, tax/shipping edge cases and consumer trust.