As a child, I remember playing board games. Mostly as a solution to weather-induced boredom (I always felt that Mattel missed a trick not calling them ‘bored games,’ but let’s not ‘dwell’).
I longed for the games to be innovated away from the experience of Lego-to-foot injuries, Subbuteo scuffles and lost Monopoly millions. I wanted technology to intervene and make a version that could be played on the TV. Well, it did… and so much more.
In that context, Google’s Universal Shopping Cart announcement represents another inevitable creative solution to a problem we are lucky enough to have in the first place.
Being able to add products to Google’s universal checkout from YouTube, Gmail, browsing or from Gemini represents a step-change in how customers buy and what control you have over that purchase, as a brand.
“When you’re ready to buy, UCP makes checkout from your cart super smooth. You can check out with Google Pay in just a few taps with many of your favourite brands, or transfer your items to the merchant’s site to complete your purchase. You can try these select checkout features soon across merchants like Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair and Shopify merchants such as Fenty and Steve Madden. No matter which way you buy, the brand stays the merchant of record.
Universal Cart is rolling out across Search and the Gemini app in the U.S. this summer, with YouTube and Gmail to follow.”
Agentic Commerce Arrives: Why Google’s UCP Matters for eCommerce Growth (and What to Do Next) – Sp…
On the surface, it’s smart as hell, logical and above all, useful – A cart that follows you around Google surfaces; YouTube, Gmail, Gemini, remembering what you’ve looked at, nudging you on price drops, making checkout easier and reducing, what remains of the heavy lifting of product research and purchase.
What it signals is interesting.
We’re edging closer to a world where people don’t really research or ‘shop’ anymore.
There are even conceivable situations where a customer doesn’t have any engagement with the brand and moves straight to purchase without the brand receiving any signals.
They browse a bit… and now, AI starts doing the rest.
Google is often in front of the pack, but they are never alone when it comes to shaping shopping behaviour. Shopify are building an ecosystem (Shop app) that remembers and reconnects shoppers across brands.
All of them (and let’s be clear, us) are chasing the same thing:
Unlocking convenience, faster decisions, fewer drop-offs and better return on our investment
And that becomes the science of necessity when you consider the economic backdrop:
Ecommerce is now a $6.8tn market globally and around 70% of carts still get abandoned (even higher on mobile).
The opportunity here is obvious: If Google can reduce friction in that “messy middle”, there’s serious conversion upside.
By owning the funnel, Google becomes the conductor of its own orchestra.
We’ve seen this pattern before:
Amazon owns the customer; brands fight for visibility
Marketplaces reduce products to price & reviews – a social truth counterbalancing the brand promise.
…where does that leave the brand? You still get the sale, but you’re a little further away from the customer than you used to be. And potentially feel more reliance on a platform many of us have spent years trying to de-risk from.
But like that first interaction with a stray Lego piece. Sure, there’s some pain and you’ve learned something, but the key is to not panic. This isn’t just a Google future. It’s the future, so make sure you adapt quickly as you’re now optimising for systems that control journeys rather than just journeys.
I’ve outlined a few steps to make your life easier here:
- Optimise your product data – Make sure Google (and AI tools) can easily understand your products:
- Clear titles
- pricing & stock accuracy become more relevant
- Good descriptions that inform AI
I promise you this: If your data’s bad, you won’t show up.
- Be easy to buy from anywhere – Not just your website.
Make sure:
- Your checkout is smooth – it just got a promotion!
- Your delivery & returns info is clear and competitive, to avoid abandonment
- Your systems can plug into platforms like… duh, Google
I promise you this: Doing something about what happens beyond your own site will increase your sales performance.
- Build your own audience – This is the big one.
If Google sits at the start, in the middle and at the checkout, you need a direct line to customers:
- Loyalty
- Repeat purchase and look-a-like strategy
I promise you this: First and Zero-party data, just became your most prized possession. Don’t rely only on platforms to tell you what your customers think and do.
- Accept less control (while planning for it) – You will not see everything anymore.
Journeys will be:
- Fragmented data signals
- Spread across platforms
- Harder to track
I make no promises here, but focus on overall growth signals, not perfect channel attribution. Unit economics remains a critical factor in achieving sustainable profitability, and their significance to your organisation’s growth has never been greater.
- Embrace the change, but do not depend on it – it’s not the ‘whole truth’
- Protect and promote your brand as you can still control demand
- Protect your margins
- Keep building direct relationships with your customers to add value that the platforms can’t
The simple truth is that Google is going to keep innovating on behalf of what it sees as best for purchasers. And it’s no surprise that their technology platforms will be driving that.
AI will power those platforms. So, make your products easy for AI to choose, but don’t let platforms own your customer.
And watch out for that Lego!
