TORONTO, ONTARIO / RankWire.AI / – Google launched a new tool in Canada on Wednesday that lets users buy products through its AI chatbot, removing the need for a traditional online checkout cart. The feature, called Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)-powered checkout, works in the Gemini chatbot and in the search engine’s AI Mode. Purchases are processed through Google Pay using details saved in Google Wallet. The individual retailer remains the seller of record.
The launch is the California-based company’s latest move in a fierce battle to control e-commerce. Technology firms are racing to turn conversational AI into digital points of sale. Retail giants such as Amazon and Walmart have introduced AI assistants that work mainly on their own platforms. Google is instead competing with agents such as Meta’s Muse that can operate across different online stores. Both companies want to become a universal checkout counter for internet retailers.
For now, Google’s offering is limited to a handful of Canadian retail partners. They include Lululemon, Shoppers Drug Mart, Simons and select Shopify merchants, with more expected in the new year. Ottawa-based Shopify helped build the in-chat checkout, even as it rolls out competing AI shopping tools of its own. Eric Morris, head of retail at Google Canada, called the feature a new way for Canadians to shop. Access to the service will be free for retailers.
Search giant adapts to conversational shopping
Morris told CBC News that AI is changing the way consumers search. In the past, a search for running tights would return 10 blue links and product pictures, he said. A chatbot query about the best running tights for a snowy Toronto winter would instead present options matched to the user’s needs. Google is acutely exposed to that shift. Shares of parent company Alphabet plunged last Thursday after weaker search revenue, wiping out about US$500 billion in market value.
Vass Bednar, managing director at the Canadian SHIELD Institute for Public Policy, said AI shopping gives companies such as Google and Meta access to purchase data otherwise held by retailers. She questioned whether AI can be trusted to find the lowest price. Bednar said research shows choice is more constrained in AI shopping than on the open web. Shoppers may receive offers served through advertising relationships rather than the best deal, she said.
Retail groups and experts weigh the trade-offs
Santo Ligotti, vice-president at the Retail Council of Canada, said the feature can help budget-conscious shoppers find deals and compare prices. He called it a positive tool that helps people feel more prepared. David Soberman, a marketing professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, urged shoppers to cross-check results. He said AI agents sometimes miss things and have made retailers passive players in the ecosystem.
Google Canada expects 59% of Canadians to use an AI tool for holiday shopping this year, while Deloitte and PwC put the figure at 39% and 28%. Some of Canada’s largest banks said last week they would block third-party AI agents from accessing clients’ accounts. Morris said purchases remain secure and encrypted through Google Pay, with humans still completing each transaction. Lululemon’s Nick Engel said he expects a wave of shoppers using AI tools this holiday season.