"To illustrate just how AI is starting to reshape the shopping experience, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and incoming Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner announced a partnership resulting in shoppers now able to shop Walmart and Sam's Club products directly on Gemini, Google AI chatbot. In addition, Google also introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an AI commerce framework aimed at becoming an industry standard that allows AI agents to interact directly with retailers' commerce systems."
"This partnership now means that Gemini users are able to discover Walmart and Sam's Club items when doing research on the chatbot, which will automatically offer product recommendations from these retailers when relevant. If users decide they want to purchase the product being recommended in the conversation, they can do so instantly, with Walmart's checkout environment appearing. This eliminates several steps of the shopping journey, with customers no longer needing to click a link and go to another website, add to cart and then checkout."
AI dominated retail conversations at NRF, affecting supply chain operations, customer experience, and retail media expansion. Major moves enable shoppers to discover and buy products directly inside AI chat interfaces, removing steps such as following links, adding to carts, and switching sites. A new Universal Commerce Protocol aims to standardize how AI agents connect to retailers' commerce systems, enabling deeper backend integration. The combined effect streamlines discovery, decision-making, and checkout flows while expanding AI impact across front, middle, and back office retail functions. These changes position conversational AI as a central touchpoint in modern commerce.
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