Club Benefits
Google announced a major upgrade to its AI-powered shopping feature at today's Google I/O 2026 event. Dubbed "Universal Cart," the intelligent shopping cart was designed to turn online shopping into a more seamless and personalized experience.
According to Google, the shopping feature is part of a broader plan for “agentic commerce,” meaning that AI systems would help users online shop in real-time rather than simply display search results — almost as if you have your own personal shopper assisting you.
Instead of creating separate carts on every website, Google's Universal Cart follows you across its apps like Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail. This allows you to add items to the smart cart while you're doing other tasks like browsing, streaming and responding to emails.
The cart does more than just store items. The moment you add a product to your cart, it gets to work in the background. The Universal Cart can monitor prices, track discounts, notify users when products return to stock and find better deals. It also uses Google’s Gemini AI models to analyze shopping behavior and provide suggestions.
One example that Google provided was based on a user building their first custom PC. They would likely add a few parts from several different retailers to their cart. The cart would then flag any product incompatibilities and suggest alternatives before the user made their purchases.
Additionally, Google is expanding their Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a system that makes checking out super simple. You'll be able to check out with Google Pay or transfer your items to the merchant’s site to complete your purchase.
This checkout feature will be available soon at brands like Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair and Shopify merchants such as Fenty and Steve Madden.
Lastly, Google is also introducing a new payment feature called the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). The system allows users to authorize AI agents to make purchases for them. For peace of mind, it will include strict boundaries like spending caps and approved products.
The Universal Cart is expected to launch across Search and the Gemini app in the U.S. this summer, with platforms like Gmail and YouTube to follow.
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