Salesforce has announced support for Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, extending Agentforce Commerce (formely Commerce Cloud) into Google’s AI powered shopping experiences.

This announcement reflects a broader shift already underway across retail and digital commerce, one we highlighted in our recent article on 5 trends that will shape retail and digital commerce in 2026. Customer journeys are increasingly being shaped and executed by AI. Discovery, decision making and even checkout are starting to happen inside conversational and agent driven interfaces rather than traditional storefronts.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol is designed to allow AI agents to interact directly with merchant systems. This includes product discovery, availability checks, pricing validation and transaction execution in real time. With Salesforce supporting UCP through Agentforce Commerce (formely Commerce Cloud), brands can participate in these emerging journeys without rebuilding their commerce foundations.

Crucially, this does not mean handing control to AI platforms. Merchants continue to manage catalogue, pricing, promotions, fulfilment and customer relationships within Salesforce. The commerce platform remains the system of record, while AI becomes an additional channel rather than a replacement.

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Paul Sanderson, CEO at TCTG, sees this as a clear inflection point for commerce platforms.

“Support for Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol is a strong signal of where commerce is heading. As with all current changes in the digital landscape, we need to think customer first and explain the benefits, not just assume everything will work and customers will engage with the experience. So how does UCP benefit and impact my business? Is the question that needs to be asked.

Buying journeys are moving into AI driven interfaces, but the fundamentals remain the same. Brands still need a strong commerce foundation underneath but the emphasis and priority needs to be placed on data. The real advantage comes from being able to participate in these new channels without adding complexity or losing control.”

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From a technology perspective, the role of standards is critical. Dejan Stanoevski, Head of Engineering and Labs at TCTG, highlights why this matters for delivery teams.

“AI is no longer just influencing how customers discover products. It is starting to act on their behalf. This reinforces the importance of composable, API first commerce architectures. Open standards like Universal Commerce Protocol reduce fragmentation and integration overhead, but only when the underlying platform is designed to support change at speed.”

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For commerce teams, this announcement reinforces a reality we see across programmes today. AI led commerce is no longer theoretical. The differentiator is execution readiness. Platforms and architectures must be able to support new AI channels without introducing risk, duplication or operational drag.

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How does UCP benefit and impact your business?

• Consistent data everywhere across all channels lead to better customer experience & conversion rates

• Personalised experiences can be shared across more channels leading to more revenue and loyalty

• Decision making becomes easier with more channels centralised and the ability to interrogate data for easier and efficiently

• Efficiency increases significantly with teams not having to repeat processes for every channel

• Integrations are simplified and standardised across the landscape eg ECOM, OMS, ERP, PIM. Reducing effort, duplication and increasing value for money.

If you want to understand what this means for your commerce platform, or how to prepare your architecture for AI led shopping experiences, we are already working with retailers and brands on these challenges.

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Get in touch with us at: info@thecommerceteam.com  if you want to discuss how Agentforce Commerce (formely Commerce Cloud) and emerging technology such as Universal Commerce Protocol can be applied in your business

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