India’s e-commerce sector is on the cusp of its biggest transformation yet. Google has just unveiled revolutionary AI-powered tools and an open standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) that will fundamentally reshape how Indian consumers shop and how businesses connect with customers. Welcome to agentic commerce—where AI assistants handle your shopping tasks from start to finish.

Picture this: You’re in Hyderabad looking for a saree for Diwali. Instead of browsing through dozens of websites, an AI agent understands your style preferences, budget, and occasion requirements, finds the perfect options across multiple platforms, compares prices including delivery charges to your locality, and completes the purchase—all while you focus on other festive preparations. This isn’t a distant dream; it’s the near future of Indian e-commerce.

What is Agentic Commerce?

Agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift from traditional online shopping. Instead of you manually searching through Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, and Nykaa, AI agents work on your behalf—understanding your preferences, finding the best deals, completing transactions, managing returns, and even handling customer service interactions.

For India’s booming digital economy, currently valued at over ₹7 lakh crore and growing rapidly, this technology could be transformative. With over 900 million internet users and a smartphone penetration expected to reach 1 billion devices by 2026, India is perfectly positioned to adopt agentic commerce at scale.

The Universal Commerce Protocol: An Open Standard for India

At the core of Google’s vision is the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)—a new open standard enabling seamless interaction between AI agents, retailers, and payment systems. Think of UCP as a common language allowing different AI assistants to collaborate across the entire shopping journey.

What makes UCP particularly relevant for India is its open nature. In a market where interoperability between platforms has been a longstanding challenge, UCP provides a standardized framework. It’s compatible with existing protocols and can work alongside India’s own digital public infrastructure initiatives like UPI, ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), and DigiLocker.

Key Innovations Coming to Indian Retail

Why This Matters for Indian Businesses

India has over 63 million MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), many of which have gone digital in recent years. For these businesses, competing with large e-commerce platforms has been challenging. Agentic commerce levels the playing field.

A small handicraft business in Jaipur or a textile merchant in Surat can now have an AI agent answering customer queries in multiple languages, managing inventory questions, and facilitating purchases—capabilities previously available only to companies with large customer service teams and massive technology budgets.

The Indian Consumer Experience

For Indian shoppers, agentic commerce addresses several pain points unique to the market. Language barriers, overwhelming choice, price comparison across platforms, concerns about product authenticity, and complex return policies have all made online shopping challenging for many Indians, especially first-time users.

Imagine asking in Hindi: “मुझे दिवाली के लिए 5000 रुपये में अच्छी साड़ी चाहिए जो देहरादून में 3 दिन में आ जाए” (I need a good saree for Diwali within ₹5000 that can reach Dehradun in 3 days). An AI agent can understand this complete request—budget, occasion, location, delivery timeline—and provide personalized recommendations instantly.

Integration with India’s Digital Ecosystem

The timing of agentic commerce’s arrival in India is significant. The government’s push for digital public infrastructure has created a foundation of interoperable systems:

• UPI: With over 12 billion monthly transactions, India’s unified payment interface is the world’s most successful real-time payment system
• ONDC: The Open Network for Digital Commerce aims to democratize e-commerce—UCP can work alongside ONDC’s protocols
• DigiLocker: Digital document storage that can streamline age verification, address proof, and other shopping requirements
• Aadhaar: Potential for secure, simplified identity verification during high-value purchases
• Account Aggregator: Framework allowing secure data sharing that AI agents can leverage with user consent

Challenges and Considerations for India

While the potential is enormous, several factors specific to India need consideration. Data privacy concerns in a market that’s still building trust in digital transactions, internet connectivity issues in rural areas where the next wave of users will come from, and the digital literacy gap among older demographics who may be uncomfortable with AI intermediaries.

Additionally, India’s complex tax structure (GST variations across states), logistics challenges (pin code-specific delivery capabilities), and the importance of cash-on-delivery (still preferred by many users) will require localized solutions within the agentic commerce framework.

What Indian Retailers Should Do Now

Forward-thinking Indian businesses should start preparing for the agentic commerce era. While Google’s tools are initially launching in the US, global rollout will follow, and India’s massive market makes it a priority.

• Optimize Product Data: Ensure your product catalogs include detailed descriptions in multiple languages with common questions answered
• Embrace Google Merchant Center: Set up and optimize your presence for conversational discovery
• Plan for Voice Search: Optimize content for how people actually speak in their regional languages
• Leverage Google Pay: Ensure seamless integration with India’s most popular digital payment method
• Build Brand Voice: Define how your brand should communicate in different Indian languages and contexts
• Monitor Global Rollout: Stay updated on when these features become available in India

The Future of Indian E-Commerce

India’s e-commerce market is projected to reach $400 billion by 2030. Agentic commerce will be a significant driver of this growth, particularly in enabling the next 500 million users who find current e-commerce platforms too complex, language-restrictive, or impersonal.

Consider the impact on specific sectors: Fashion and apparel businesses can offer personalized styling advice in regional languages. Grocery and FMCG companies can manage recurring orders and suggest alternatives when products are out of stock. Electronics retailers can provide detailed technical support and comparisons in vernacular languages. Healthcare and wellness brands can offer personalized recommendations while navigating India’s complex regulatory requirements.

Looking Ahead: India’s Unique Advantage

India enters the agentic commerce era with several advantages. A young, tech-savvy population comfortable with AI and digital tools, the world’s most successful digital payment infrastructure, a government committed to digital public infrastructure and interoperability, a massive market providing economies of scale for AI training and deployment, and linguistic and cultural diversity that can help develop more robust, inclusive AI systems.

The businesses that thrive will be those that view agentic commerce not as a threat but as an enabler—a tool to reach underserved markets, provide better customer experiences, and compete effectively regardless of size.

Conclusion: The Bharat Opportunity

Agentic commerce isn’t just about technology; it’s about inclusion. It’s about making e-commerce accessible to the farmer in Punjab who prefers speaking Punjabi, the homemaker in Kerala who wants to shop in Malayalam, and the student in Bihar who thinks in Hindi but has been forced to navigate English-language platforms.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol and AI-powered tools provide the framework. India’s digital infrastructure provides the foundation. Indian businesses that act now will be positioned to lead when this transformation accelerates.

The future of Indian retail isn’t just digital—it’s intelligent, conversational, and inclusive. Are you ready to be part of it?