Google has introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard designed to streamline agentic commerce across the full shopping journey—from discovery to post-purchase support. UCP facilitates seamless interactions among various agents, systems, and payment providers, supported by major retailers like Walmart and Shopify. This announcement, made at the National Retail Federation conference, emphasizes the growing importance of AI agents in e-commerce. In a notable absence, Amazon did not support the initiative, leading to legal disputes with Perplexity over its AI shopping agents. Amazon’s cease and desist order claims Perplexity’s Comet AI operates deceptively on its platform without authorization, threatening customer experience and data security. While Amazon acknowledges the potential of AI in enhancing e-commerce and is open to partnerships, it maintains that transparency is vital for trust and customer satisfaction. This evolving landscape highlights the tension between traditional e-commerce giants and emerging AI technologies in the shopping arena.
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