Amazon, Meta, Microsoft Back Unified AI Shopping Standard
Several major technology and commerce companies have joined the governing body behind the Universal Commerce Protocol, strengthening support for an open standard that enables AI agents to shop for consumers. Specifically, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Stripe are now part of the UCP Tech Council, which guides the protocol’s development.
As a result, these new members join earlier participants such as Google, Shopify, Etsy, Target, and Wayfair. Consequently, the council’s membership has expanded to ten organizations, reflecting broader industry alignment. Moreover, this collaboration signals a shared effort to simplify how AI-driven commerce operates across platforms.
Building a Seamless Agentic Commerce Framework
UCP, introduced earlier this year, outlines how AI agents interact with businesses throughout the shopping journey. For example, it covers product discovery, cart creation, checkout processes, and post-purchase support. In addition, the protocol remains open-source, which reduces the need for complex custom integrations between platforms and retailers.
“The Universal Commerce Protocol is quickly paving the way for this new era of agentic commerce,” said Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM of Ads and Commerce at Google. “We’re proud to see the industry come together around this shared, open standard that will benefit businesses and consumers everywhere.”
Meanwhile, the Tech Council plays a central role in shaping the protocol’s future. It reviews contributions, sets technical priorities, and manages the open-source framework. Furthermore, each participating company contributes unique expertise in areas such as retail scale, payments, enterprise systems, and digital discovery.
Competition Intensifies in the Agentic Commerce Space
At the same time, the expansion reflects growing competition to define how AI agents handle online transactions. For instance, Microsoft has already integrated UCP feeds into its Merchant Center, allowing businesses to present products through its AI assistant. However, other companies are also developing alternative approaches, which increases pressure to establish a dominant standard.
Vanessa Lee, VP of Product at Shopify, framed the stakes in terms of interoperability. “AI can enable so many new ways of shopping to flourish, but only if there’s a clear standard between retailers, businesses and applications,” she said.
Looking ahead, projections suggest agentic commerce could generate between $190 billion and $385 billion in U.S. e-commerce spending by 2030. Therefore, it may account for 10 to 20 percent of the total market. As a result, the growing alignment around UCP indicates that leading platforms are moving toward a unified framework for AI-driven shopping.
