The AI shopping race is escalating quickly. Only a week after Microsoft introduced Copilot Shopping, Google has unveiled its own vision for what it calls the “agentic commerce era,” bringing new shopping capabilities to AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app. The timing is not subtle. Both companies are moving fast to define the future of online retail, and both appear convinced that consumers are ready to shop through conversational prompts rather than traditional browsing. Whether that confidence is grounded in user behavior or in the industry’s desire to create new revenue channels is still an open question.
If you’re feeling déjà vu, you’re not alone. Both companies seem convinced that consumers are ready to hand over their wallets to conversational agents, despite the fact that most people still struggle to get AI to write a coherent email, let alone choose a $600 appliance.
But the tech giants are moving ahead anyway, betting big on a future where shopping is less about browsing and more about blurting out a prompt like “I need a rug that won’t embarrass me during dinner parties” and letting an AI handle the rest.
Google’s announcement, published on its Ads and Commerce blog, frames this shift as a natural evolution of retail technology. Vidhya Srinivasan, Google’s VP and GM of Ads and Commerce, describes the moment this way: “The pace of innovation in retail is incredible, and agentic commerce, where AI completes tasks on people’s behalf, is evolving from a concept to reality.” In Google’s interpretation of that reality, users will be able to describe what they want, receive a curated set of recommendations, and complete a purchase directly within Google’s interface using payment information already stored in Google Wallet. The company presents this as a convenience, though it also consolidates more of the shopping journey inside Google’s ecosystem.
A central piece of Google’s strategy is the Universal Commerce Protocol, a new open standard designed to let AI agents communicate with retailers, payment providers, and other systems without requiring custom integrations. Google describes the protocol as “a common language for agents and systems to operate together across consumer surfaces, businesses and payment providers.” The company plans to use this protocol to power a new checkout experience in AI Mode and Gemini, allowing users to buy from participating U.S. retailers without leaving Google’s environment. Google emphasizes that retailers remain the seller of record and that the system is designed with security in mind, but the move still raises familiar concerns about platform dominance and the shrinking space for independent retail experiences.
Google is also introducing Business Agent, a branded conversational assistant that allows shoppers to interact directly with retailers inside Search. The company characterizes it as a virtual sales associate capable of answering product questions in a retailer’s own voice. Early partners include Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark, and Reebok. This feature mirrors Microsoft’s recent push to integrate retailers into Copilot Shopping, though Google is leaning more heavily into the idea of AI agents that not only advise but also complete transactions on behalf of the user.
The broader trend is becoming clear. Major AI providers believe that consumers will embrace a form of shopping that is more impulsive, more conversational, and more dependent on the AI’s interpretation of a prompt. The assumption is that users will be comfortable describing a need in natural language, accepting a set of AI‑generated recommendations, and checking out immediately. This model introduces obvious risks, including hallucinated product details, biased recommendations, and the possibility that the AI’s suggestions may be shaped more by advertising incentives than by user needs. Yet the industry appears confident that the convenience of conversational commerce will outweigh these concerns.
To support this new shopping environment, Google is testing a format called Direct Offers, which allows retailers to surface exclusive discounts directly within AI Mode. The company explains the rationale succinctly: “Often, you are only ready to buy if you’re getting a great deal.” This format ensures that advertisers retain a way to pay for visibility even as AI‑first interfaces reduce the prominence of traditional ad placements. Early participants include Petco, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Samsonite, Rugs USA, and a range of Shopify merchants.
The shift from browsing to prompting is happening quickly, and both Microsoft and Google are racing to shape the standards, interfaces, and monetization models that will define this new era. What remains uncertain is whether consumers actually want to shop this way. Trusting an AI to choose the right product is a significant leap, and retailers may be wary of ceding even more control to platforms that already dominate discovery and advertising. The coming months will reveal whether agentic shopping becomes a mainstream behavior or another ambitious experiment that overestimates user enthusiasm.
