The Retail Stack Is Fragmenting, and Google Is Assembling Its New Core

Retail is moving beyond isolated AI experiments. As agentic systems mature and interoperability accelerates, the traditional retail stack is beginning to break apart, and an intelligence-led core is emerging.

In this whitepaper, learn why retail is at a strategic crossing point, and how Google Cloud is ushering in a new era that transitions from bolt-on features to a shared infrastructure.

Here's what you’ll discover

Why agentic systems change the retail equation

See how AI agents that reason, plan and act are transforming retail from a sequence of transactions into a continuous decision-and-execution flow.

From AI features to AI infrastructure

Learn why competitive advantage now comes from controlling intelligence flows across the commerce lifecycle, not from deploying more standalone AI tools.

Interoperability is the real breakthrough

Understand how open standards like the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) unlock scale, cross-brand coordination and agent-to-agent commerce.

Discovery and checkout are collapsing into a single moment

Explore the operational impact of native checkout at the point of intent, and why legacy funnel models are starting to fail.

Next steps for retail leaders

Get practical guidance on re-architecting around decisions, investing in interoperability and moving from pilots to production at speed.

Whether you’re experimenting with agent-led commerce or preparing for large-scale deployment, this whitepaper offers a clear perspective on how Google is assembling the retail stack for the new era.