Google's 90 trillion-token retail AI pivot: what UCP, Gemini and Wing change next

Key Details

Google highlighted rapid growth in AI usage among retail customers on Google Cloud and introduced two new products aimed at agent-led commerce and customer experience, along with updates to its Wing drone delivery service.

AI usage growth on Google Cloud

• Retail customers generated 8.3 trillion tokens on Google's APIs in December 2024.
• By December 2025, monthly tokens processed exceeded 90 trillion, more than 11 times year over year growth, based on internal Google data shared in the NRF 2026 presentation.
• Google framed this acceleration as evidence that retailers are rapidly adopting generative AI for search, recommendations, and operational use cases.

Universal Commerce Protocol for agent-led shopping

• Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), described as a common standard for agent-led shopping journeys across platforms.
• UCP is designed to be open and platform-agnostic and is available immediately, according to Google.
• Industry collaborators on UCP include Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, with endorsements from more than 20 additional companies.
• UCP is compatible with Agent2Agent, the Agent Payments Protocol, and the Model Context Protocol, enabling different agents and tools to coordinate during a shopping session.
• Google plans to use UCP to support native checkout in Google Search and the Gemini app, while retailers remain the merchant of record for purchases.

Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience

• Google announced Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, a platform built to support agent-led retail scenarios across shopping and service.
• The product connects multiple touchpoints, including:
  • Shopping assistants
  • Customer support bots
  • Merchandising and product discovery tools
• The Home Depot and McDonald's are already using Gemini-based agents for customer service, according to Google.
• Google is also working with Kroger and other retailers on shopping agents integrated directly into retailer apps through AI Mode.

Wing drone delivery expansion

• Alphabet's Wing drone delivery service reported that delivery volumes with Walmart doubled in existing markets during 2025.
• Wing will begin deliveries in Houston next week, with Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, and additional cities planned afterward.
• Google positioned Wing as part of its effort to cover the full retail journey from discovery through last-mile delivery.

Background Context

Pichai noted that Google has partnered with retailers for more than 27 years across multiple technology shifts, from search and mobile to cloud and now generative AI. The current period was framed as an expansion phase for AI adoption in retail.

Google Search remains a major starting point for online shopping, and since 2021 Google's Shopping Graph has tracked more than 50 billion product listings in real time. Over 2 billion listings refresh every hour, capturing inventory levels, prices, and reviews, according to Google.

In the year leading up to NRF 2026, Google integrated the Shopping Graph into the Gemini app to power more personalized and context-aware shopping experiences.

AI Mode in Google Search now supports conversational, natural language queries, shifting many shopping journeys away from short keyword lists. With the new shopping agents and protocols, Google aims to extend similar conversational and agent-led capabilities into retailer-owned applications.

Across search, commerce, customer service, and delivery, Google emphasized that its strategy depends on close collaboration with retailers rather than disintermediating them, keeping merchants as the seller of record while Google provides the AI infrastructure.

Source Citations

• Primary source: Google blog: "The AI platform shift and the opportunity ahead for retail", dated January 11, 2026. This post contains an abridged transcript of Sundar Pichai's NRF 2026 remarks.
• Additional technical details on UCP: Google Ads and Commerce blog on agentic commerce and AI tools for retailers and platforms, covering UCP design goals, collaborators, and compatibility with Agent2Agent, the Agent Payments Protocol, and the Model Context Protocol.
• Token growth figures are labeled as internal Google data (December 2025) in the NRF 2026 presentation, on a slide titled "Retail Customers" in the published materials.