AI’s platform shift is reshaping retail and unlocking the next wave of growth

Google is pushing deeper into retail with a suite of AI-driven initiatives unveiled by CEO Sundar Pichai at the National Retail Federation conference, highlighting a sharp rise in developer demand—API token processing jumped from 8.3 trillion in December 2024 to more than 90 trillion a year later. The company introduced an open Universal Commerce Protocol, built with partners including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart, to support agent-driven shopping and native checkout on Google surfaces while keeping retailers as the merchant of record. Google also rolled out Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, a platform to unify shopping assistants, support bots and merchandising tools, now in preview with early users such as The Home Depot, McDonald’s and Kroger. Its Shopping Graph has surpassed 50 billion listings, with more than 2 billion refreshed each hour, and AI Mode is moving search from keywords to conversations. Alphabet’s Wing is expanding drone delivery with Walmart to new U.S. cities, underscoring Google’s bid to influence the retail journey from discovery to delivery.

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