Google announced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that enables AI agents to handle the entire shopping journey, from discovery to checkout.
Here's the strategic breakdown most coverage is missing:
THE WINNERS:
They co-developed it with Google for an infrastructure positioning.
Shopify merchants can now sell directly inside Google Search and Gemini.
Native shopping on Google surface is rolling out soon.
Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart, and 20+ others, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Best Buy, Macy's, and The Home Depot were the other co-developers.
The key detail: retailers remain the seller of record, keeping the customer relationship and data
THE LOSER:
Amazon is playing defense and has blocked 47 AI bots from scraping its site.
In November, Amazon sued Perplexity, alleging that Perplexity's Comet browser deployed agents that concealed themselves to scrape Amazon's website.
The irony is that Amazon's "Buy for Me" tool is now listing products from Shopify merchants without their permission.
Over 180 businesses have reported their products appearing on Amazon without consent.
One merchant called it being "forced to be dropshippers on a platform we made a conscious decision not to be part of."
Contrary to the walled garden strategy, Google and Shopify are building open rails.
The AI commerce battle is heating up
