When you're shopping, every piece of information you encounter shapes your decision. Whether comparing bikes for a daily commute or choosing a sectional couch for your den, product descriptions, reviews, deals, and store details all influence the path to purchase.
Agentic Commerce Is Transforming Consumer Behavior
Unlike generative AI, which reactively creates content based on prompts, agentic commerce is proactive. It is an autonomous, AI-powered agent that assists throughout the shopping journey—from discovery and research to buying decisions and the actual transaction. This technology significantly reduces the effort of shopping.
"The promise of agentic commerce is to simplify and speed up the process," says Eric Morris, managing director for retail at Google Canada. "Shoppers are moving to a world where they expect technology to not just find things, but to help them take action."
The Evolution Toward Agentic Commerce
As people ask longer and more conversational questions, Google has developed new tools to help consumers find what they need. Google's AI Mode, now with 75 million daily active users, uses its generative AI model, Gemini, to provide intelligent responses to complex queries. It can help users make dinner reservations, recommend and compare products based on specific preferences, and refine results through dialogue.
Another tool aiding buying decisions is Google Lens, which processes over 25 billion visual searches monthly, with one in five having shopping intent. Users can quickly learn a product's brand, model, price, and purchase locations through visual search.
To advance agentic commerce, Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that integrates consumer surfaces, businesses, and payment providers into a single experience. Coming soon to Canada, UCP will power a new checkout feature on eligible Google product listings in AI Mode and the Gemini app.
"If someone says, 'I'm looking for a red carry-on suitcase,' previously they might get various suitcases to compare on their own," Morris explains. "Now, they can have a conversation directly in AI Mode or with Gemini. It provides rich product descriptions and photos, and soon, even help purchase the product without leaving the conversation."
Users can search multiple retailers simultaneously to compare prices, shipping, and inventory. Identity Linking, part of UCP, gives shoppers in AI Mode the same loyalty benefits—like special prices or free shipping—they would receive on a retailer's site.
AI-powered discovery is driving consumer action: 77% of AI Overview or AI Mode users agree they can make decisions faster with these tools. As a result, companies have greater opportunities to influence purchasing decisions precisely when they form. Morris notes that easing and compressing the shopping journey makes people more likely to shop.
"As a retailer, you have a new opportunity to reach consumers at that moment of truth when they want to purchase something. We're helping turn complex, time-consuming tasks into a confident 'yes' in record time by being the matchmaker between brands and consumers."
Taking Advantage of the Agentic Opportunity
Morris believes brands and retailers must ensure their digital storefront stands out. This includes "seeding the AI" with high-quality data: accurate product listings, basic information like hours of operation, clear shipping and return policies, customer service details, reviews, and FAQs structured as answers to common questions. As search becomes more visual, rich content like high-quality images and videos is also essential.
"That's the opportunity; the flip side is the risk of being complacent. We've seen what happened in the early days of e-commerce when many companies ceded a lead to faster-moving competitors. Retailers that invested in e-commerce in the mid- and late-90s created a significant lead by innovating, testing, and learning early."
"If you examine the history of such innovations, we tend to overstate how quickly changes occur and understate the impact. Agentic feels like another one of those moments."
Morris adds that Google has always aimed to reduce friction between "the question in your head" and an answer, and AI innovation continues that mission. "For brands across Canada, our innovation can be their shortcut to momentum. We're building tools to level the playing field and help all businesses reap the rewards of the AI era."
Learn more about reaching consumers at the speed of AI through Google's 2026 guide for marketers. Sources: 1Alphabet Earnings Q3 2025. 2Google Internal Data, Jan. 2025. 3Google Internal Data, Global, Lens, April 2024. 4Google commissioned Ipsos Global Consumer Journeys, Dec 2025, Online survey, Global average of select countries (AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, ES, FR, ID, IN, IT, JP, KR, MX, NL, PE, PH, PO, SG, SW, TW, TH, US, UK) not weighted to reflect population size, Adults 18+. Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Google. The Globe's editorial department was not involved.
