Google Launches Agentic Commerce Tools as 139 Million Americans Shop With AI

Google Expands AI-Powered Performance Insights to Five Countries

Google has made AI-powered performance insights generally available in Merchant Center for businesses across Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the U.S., marking a significant push into agentic commerce ahead of the holiday shopping season1

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. The feature enables retailers to track how their brand and products are being discovered through conversational experiences on AI Mode and AI Overviews, while comparing their share of voice against competitors2

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Retailers can now see exactly how customers find them through AI-driven retail interfaces and take immediate action to improve product discoverability. This capability arrives as shoppers increasingly turn to AI for product discovery, comparison, and purchasing decisions during the gift-giving season1

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Universal Commerce Protocol Gets Major Updates

Google is rolling out substantial updates to the Universal Commerce Protocol integration hub in Merchant Center. The UCP already powers direct checkout for hundreds of thousands of brands and retailers across Google platforms. Now, merchants using the hub for UCP-powered checkout can enable cart transfer to a merchant site and enhanced checkout flows testing, with analytics features coming soon2

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These new capabilities are gradually launching in the U.S., with Australia and Canada scheduled to receive them early in 2027. The enhanced checkout flows represent Google's effort to streamline the purchasing journey while giving retailers more control over the customer experience.

139 Million Americans Already Shopping With AI

The timing of these agentic commerce tools aligns with massive consumer adoption. According to PYMNTS Intelligence, 139 million Americans have already made AI-assisted retail purchases. More striking, 39 million U.S. adults—15% of the adult population—have completely abandoned traditional channels in favor of AI-driven product discovery2

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Consumer willingness to delegate shopping tasks to AI agents is growing rapidly. Nearly a quarter of consumers surveyed (24%) would allow an AI agent to shop and buy for them, though a smaller number (14%) would permit an AI app to hold their payment card information2

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The Battle for Agentic Shopping Ecosystems

PYMNTS Intelligence research suggests the 2026 shopping season will indeed go agentic, but not in the way most expect. Merchants will attempt to steer shoppers toward their own AI agents within closed ecosystems, each with distinct assortments, terms, and checkout processes. Meanwhile, consumers will deploy agents to hunt for the best price, fastest delivery, and easiest returns2

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This creates a fundamental tension in AI-driven retail. Retailers need visibility into how customers discover them through conversational AI experiences to boost holiday sales effectively. Google's new performance insights directly address this need, giving businesses the data required to compete in an environment where AI agents increasingly mediate the relationship between brands and consumers.