Google has named Australia as the first market in Asia Pacific to go live with its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) as the search giant looks to push further into online retail transactions.

UCP is an open standard co-developed with retail industry players and designed to allow AI agents, retailers and payment systems to communicate using a common framework.

In Australia, Google says a new checkout experience will soon launch with retailers including Adore Beauty, Bunnings, Kogan Group, Petbarn and THE ICONIC.

The feature will allow shoppers to make single-item purchases from selected retailers directly inside Google Search, including AI Mode, and the Gemini app.

The move puts Google deeper into the retail sales funnel, shifting it from product discovery and advertising into the final checkout stage.

Google says 73% of Australians agree they make faster and more confident decisions when using AI Overviews and AI Mode.

It also claims AI Mode queries have doubled every quarter since launch, while AI Overviews now has more than 2.5 billion monthly active users globally.

Adrian Vallelonga, Head of Performance Solutions at Google Australia and New Zealand, said UCP would allow retailers to “connect once and work everywhere.”

“The Universal Cart is a truly intelligent shopping cart and your new agentic hub for shopping on Google,” he said.

Vallelonga said the cart would eventually work across merchants and Google products, allowing users to add items while browsing Search, chatting with Gemini, watching YouTube or reading Gmail.

He said the cart would track price changes, alert users when products come back in stock and allow them to buy directly on Google or move the cart to a merchant’s own site.

The Australian launch comes as Shopify unveiled its Spring ’26 Edition, ‘Everywhere’, with more than 150 product updates aimed at helping merchants sell across AI platforms and emerging digital channels.

Shopify’s updates include Agentic Storefronts in Shopify Admin, Campaign Autopilot, Storefront Agent and an expanded version of its AI assistant Sidekick.

Shopify Collective has also launched in Australia, allowing local retailers to sell products from Australian suppliers without holding inventory.

The retail checkout push comes as Google is also expanding Gemini across its local hardware line-up, including the new Google Home Speaker launched in Australia this week.