Google Launches Universal Cart in the US: Cross-Merchant Smart Shopping Cart in Search and Gemini

What happened

On Oct 15, Suresh Ganapathy announced on Google's official blog The Keyword that Universal Cart is officially live in the US, across Google Search's AI Mode and the Gemini app — the feature's first large-scale rollout since its May I/O preview.

Universal Cart collects products from multiple retailers into one cart wherever users shop on Google: a handbag saved from Steve Madden in AI Mode in Search, plus a sweater from Quince and lip gloss from Ulta Beauty in the Gemini app, all stay in the same cart. Built on Google's continually refreshed 60B+ listing Shopping Graph, the cart works proactively in the background, sending notifications when prices drop, when an out-of-stock item is back, and surfacing promo codes inside the cart.

For payments and checkout: the cart is built on Google Wallet, understands a user's card perks and recommends which card to use. Checkout runs on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP): participating merchants support a few-tap Google Pay checkout inside the cart, or items can be transferred to the merchant's own cart and finished on the merchant's site. Under either path, order confirmations and customer support come from the merchant, and the merchant remains the seller of record. Launch merchants include Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair and many Shopify merchants.

UCP is an open standard Google co-developed with retail leaders earlier in 2026. Google says UCP-powered checkout will expand to Canada and Australia in the coming months and later to the UK, and that Universal Cart will next connect to YouTube and Gmail.

Key facts

1. Launch scope: US; Google Search AI Mode + Gemini app; Oct 15
2. Core features: cross-merchant one-cart collection; price-drop and restock alerts; promo codes; card-perk recommendations via Wallet
3. Checkout: Universal Commerce Protocol (open standard); Google Pay in-cart checkout or jump to the merchant's own checkout; merchant remains seller of record
4. Merchants: Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair and many Shopify merchants
5. Next: connects to YouTube and Gmail; UCP expands to Canada, Australia, then the UK