E-Commerce 13 January 2026 - 4 February 2026

Ottawa-based Shopify announced it has co-created a new open standard with Google and broadened its integrations with both Google and Microsoft. The goal: to enable shoppers to complete purchases from Shopify merchants directly within AI search and chat tools. Called the Universal Commerce Protocol, the technology links AI systems to merchants’ checkout processes, facilitating transactions inside conversational interfaces. Brands like Monos and Gymshark will sell through Google’s AI surfaces, while Keen is among those using Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout, according to Digital Commerce 360. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2026/01/12/shopify-universal-commerce-protocol-open-standard-agentic-ai/