Blog: What is Agentic Commerce? How the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is Changing Commerce in 2026

The world of digital marketing is changing in ways we haven’t seen since smartphones took over in 2010. We’re moving away from the age of “Search,” where people had to type in what they wanted and sort through results. Instead, we’re entering the age of AI agents that take action for us. It’s a shift from getting attention to getting results.

For ten years, scrolling and clicking was how people shopped online. Now, they’re looking for something easier. AI tools are changing how people think about shopping; from doing it themselves to having AI do it for them. This raises a big question for business leaders: Will AI agents eventually do all our shopping?

How the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Enables AI-to-AI Shopping

At the big retail conference in January 2026, Google made a major announcement with Shopify and Walmart. They introduced something called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). This is their attempt to create a universal system that lets AI shop and buy things across any website.

Image Description: Google CEO Sundar Pichai at NRF’s Retail’s Big Show 2026 announcing the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a pivotal development in agentic commerce and AI-to-AI shopping analyzed by Silverback Strategies.

Some experts think AI shopping agents won’t work because the incentives, tech, or consumers aren’t ready yet. But the money being invested says otherwise. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have committed over $100 billion to build the technology needed for computers to buy from computers. People are moving away from traditional search because AI systems can process information and make decisions more efficiently than humans browsing and clicking.

Is agentic commerce a structural shift or a high-stakes mirage?

We don’t know yet if AI shopping will last. People want convenience, but they’re also skeptical about letting AI make their choices. Big companies are building systems for AI to handle purchases, but success depends on whether shoppers and stores are willing to give up the experience of browsing and discovering products themselves in exchange for speed and efficiency.

Convenience vs. Trust and Control

The biggest question facing retail is whether people will trade control for convenience. Recent data from 2025 and 2026 shows what researchers call the “Privacy Paradox”: people say they want control, but their actual behavior reveals they’ll give it up for efficiency as long as there’s not much at risk.

Here’s what the data shows about how consumers are navigating this tradeoff.

Research Yes, Buying No

People are happy to use AI for shopping research, but hesitant to let it complete purchases.

• Research adoption is high: About 70% of shoppers use AI tools to help with planning, comparing products, or reading reviews.
• The trust gap: Only 12% to 17% trust AI recommendations without double-checking, and just 4% are willing to let AI complete a purchase on its own.
• Room for growth: While only 24% feel comfortable with AI completing purchases today, 64% say they’d be open to it with the right protections in place.

What Makes People Hand Over Control?

Convenience alone isn’t enough. People need a compelling reason to let AI shop for them:

What Would Motivate You?	% of Consumers
Always getting the best price	33%
Help with budgeting and avoiding overspending	30%
Saving time	27%

Key finding: People see AI shopping as a financial tool, not just a time-saver. They’re more willing to give up control if they think the AI can get better deals than they can.

It Depends What You’re Buying

People’s willingness varies dramatically by product type:

• High comfort (low stakes): 40% are comfortable with AI handling groceries and household basics.
• Low comfort (high stakes): Only 16% would trust AI with health and wellness purchases, and even fewer with major financial decisions.

Age and Gender Differences

Younger people are adopting AI shopping much faster:

• Gen Z & Millennials: Nearly 31% of their regular monthly purchases could be handled by AI within a few years.
• Gender gap: 67% of men are somewhat comfortable letting AI handle purchases, compared to 47% of women, who have higher concerns about security and privacy.

What People Need Before They’ll Let AI Shop

For consumers to move from browsing to buying with AI, three things must happen:

1. Trust the AI works for them: People must believe the AI is finding the best option for them, not just promoting high-profit items for retailers.
2. Set spending limits: 28% say they’d only use AI shopping if they could set budget caps and “kill switches.”
3. Easy returns: 30% need a simple refund and return process before they’ll give up control.

Will Retailers Meet in the Middle?

Retailers are the second big obstacle. Many don’t want AI shopping agents because these agents eliminate profitable impulse purchases and advertising revenue. When AI automates shopping, it skips past all the ads and browsing that make retailers money. But recent announcements at the big retail conference suggest a compromise is emerging. Google, Shopify, and Walmart are creating systems that let AI handle transactions while retailers still control the sale and keep customer data.

What Does it Add Up To?

This will split consumers into two groups. AI agents will likely take over routine, boring purchases (the stuff people buy regularly without much thought). By the time company leaders start asking abo ut AI shopping, customers may already be usingit for a significant portion of their household purchases. But for products people care about (like fashion, luxury items, or big decisions) humans will stay in control. In these categories, strong brands become more important than ever. When AI handles the mechanics of shopping, brands need to give people compelling reasons to choose them.

How Signal Density and the “Invisible Shelf” Impact Brand Visibility for Bots

Business leaders should think of AI shopping readiness as upgrading how they organize product information, not replacing their brand or customer experience. By using standard formats like UCP, brands can make sure AI can find them while still creating the emotional connections with customers that AI can’t replicate.

The goal isn’t to stop investing in your brand or website (in fact CMOs are listing “branding” as their number 1 priority in 2026, even over things like gen ai, and data-driven marketing); it’s to make sure your information is accessible. If an AI agent can’t easily verify your return policy or check your inventory through organized data, you’re invisible to that bot. As brands move onto what Silverback Strategies terms the ‘Invisible Shelf,’ the battle for visibility shifts from eye-level retail placement to data-level manifest optimization. You succeed by increasing your “Signal Density,” providing more organized, verifiable information that AI systems can read and understand on the open web.

Strategic Implications

If you’re not preparing for AI shopping, you’re betting that people prefer the hassle of shopping themselves over convenience. But going all-in on an unproven AI-only future is just as risky. The smart approach is the middle path: organize your data in ways that help AI while also improving your current marketing, so you’re ready for whatever comes next.

1. Brand Recognition: Your brand’s reputation is what makes people tell their AI: “Only buy from [Brand Name].”
2. Multiple Systems: As different AI shopping systems compete, your product information needs to work with all of them.
3. Standing Out on More Than Price: Well-organized data lets you show AI shoppers why you’re worth it (like faster shipping or better sustainability) not just a lower price.

3 Strategies to Optimize Your Brand for Agentic Commerce and AI Trust Scores (ATS)

• Step 1: Check Your Data Quality. Make sure all your product details (inventory, warranties, return policies) use standard formats that AI can read. If a machine can’t find it, it might as well not exist.
• Step 2: Invest in “Contextual Brand.” Focus your creative investments on platforms where humans still “discover” (CTV, social) to ensure your brand is the “default” choice in the agent’s prompt. Make sure to measure these channels based on incremental impact, not just last-click.
• Step 3: Stay Informed on New Systems. Keep track of emerging shopping protocols like UCP and Agent Payments Protocol. Being able to work across different systems will be crucial for reaching customers.