Google Rolls Out Cross-Store AI Shopping Cart: Add Items from Nike and Walmart Together, Checkout Separately

Beating AI News: Google has started rolling out its Universal Cart feature in the United States, allowing users to add products from different merchants into a single shopping cart across Google Search and Gemini. For example, users can add a Steve Madden bag found via Search and an Ulta Beauty lipstick selected in Gemini, with all items saved in the cart for future purchases. The feature was first unveiled at this year’s Google I/O in May and is now officially launching. Integrated with Google’s Shopping Graph, which contains over 60 billion product entries, the cart continuously monitors prices and stock levels. It proactively alerts users when items drop in price or are restocked, and helps locate promo codes. Additionally, it combines credit card cashback, points, and other benefits from Google Wallet to suggest more cost-effective payment methods. It’s important to note that cross-merchant addition to the cart does not mean unified cross-merchant checkout. Items remain grouped by merchant: merchants supporting the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) can process payments directly via Google Pay, while other merchants require users to redirect to their respective websites to complete transactions. The first batch of partner merchants includes Nike, Walmart, Target, Sephora, and numerous Shopify sellers. Order confirmation and after-sales services are handled by individual merchants.