Google launches Universal Cart in the United States to track shopping

Google has announced the availability of Universal Cart for US users, TechCrunch reports. Unveiled in May at Google I/O, the tool allows users to collect and track products found in search and the Gemini app. The cart can hold items from multiple merchants and retain progress made during shopping searches.

According to Google, the service can send a notification when a saved product drops in price or becomes available again. The company also says it can take credit card benefits into account to help users choose a payment method and surface relevant promotional codes. These features are described by Google; the article provides no measurement of their effectiveness or the savings achieved.

Checkout is linked to Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP, an open standard introduced by Google earlier this year. It is designed to facilitate interactions between AI agents and merchants at different stages of the shopping journey, including checkout.

The potential benefit lies in continuity between discovery, tracking and purchase: a product spotted in a conversation could remain accessible during a later search. The scope of this announcement, however, remains limited to the United States. The available information specifies neither availability in other countries nor the extent of merchant coverage.