Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, Stripe Join Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Tech Council

Shopify Japan K.K. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Country Manager: Michio Baba; hereinafter "Shopify Japan"), the Japanese subsidiary of global commerce leader Shopify, announced today that Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Stripe have joined the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Tech Council. The UCP Tech Council is an organization responsible for the technical direction of open standards in agentic commerce, a new form of commerce that connects AI agents with businesses. These companies join founding members such as Google, Shopify, Etsy, Target, and Wayfair.

As AI agents are becoming the primary interface for product discovery and purchasing, the importance of common and open protocols that can handle the complexity of commerce is increasing. Without such protocols, each platform operates with different mechanisms, leading to interoperability challenges. UCP addresses this issue by enabling a consistent commerce experience across all platforms and payment processors, from product discovery and cart building to checkout and post-purchase support.

Each member of the UCP Tech Council possesses rich and diverse expertise in global commerce and payments, and they are collaborating under the common goal of "building an open ecosystem for agentic commerce."

The Tech Council plays a central role in defining the technical direction of UCP through reviewing proposals and operating open-source protocols. This ensures that UCP continues to evolve in response to the needs of businesses, platforms, developers, and consumers. Both new participating companies and founding members are driving its technical evolution and accelerating its adoption as an industry standard in agentic commerce.

Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM of Google Ads & Commerce, stated:

"The Universal Commerce Protocol is rapidly building the foundation for a new era of agentic commerce. We are proud to see the industry rally around this common and open standard. We believe this initiative will bring significant value to both businesses and consumers worldwide."

Vanessa Lee, VP of Product at Shopify, also commented:

"Our goal is to build a protocol where commerce functions at a practical scale. AI holds immense potential to create new shopping experiences, but to realize this, clear standards across retailers, enterprises, and applications are essential. We are very excited to continue promoting this initiative in collaboration with many partners."

This participation further consolidates the industry's convergence on UCP as a single open standard for agentic commerce. This is expected to bring new value to both businesses and consumers.

About Shopify Shopify provides essential internet infrastructure for commerce. Through an all-in-one platform that supports launching, operating, and growing businesses, it enables sales across online stores, physical stores, and all connecting sales channels. Shopify is currently widely supported by entrepreneurs and major brands, operating in over 175 countries worldwide and used by millions of merchants. In Japan, many brands such as DAISO, Seikatsu no Ki, Allbirds, KANADEMONO, and PAUL & JOE utilize Shopify. Learn more here: https://www.shopify.com/jp