Where AI agents can shop

The places where AI agents meet shoppers, and the payment rails underneath them. For each: status with a date, how merchants join, what is publicly known about reach, a primary source, and what ARC itself measures.

Updated 1 Nov 2026. A figure from the company that runs the channel is labelled vendor claim. A figure only from press is labelled press report, unverified. ARC's own numbers come from the dated open snapshot and give their denominator. ARC takes no payment from any channel, platform or model company.

Channels → · Rails, not channels → · UCP by platform → · Protocol Matrix → · Open dataset →

Channels

Surfaces where an agent shows products to a shopper and may take them to checkout. Merchants sell through these directly or through an aggregator such as Shopify, Stripe or PayPal.

  • ChatGPT Instant Checkout (ACP)

    OpenAI

    Scaled backsince 24 Mar 2026

    Launched 29 Sep 2025. OpenAI said on 24 Mar 2026 it was moving away from a standalone in-chat Instant Checkout toward product discovery with checkout on the merchant's own site or app. The wording left room for a return.

    How merchants join
    No longer offered as a standalone in-chat checkout. Merchants are pointed to discovery feeds and merchant apps instead.
    Reach
    • Etsy sellers and Shopify merchants were the launch set in 2025. (named by the operator)
    • OpenAI did not publish usage figures. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    A status change, recorded here. There is nothing on a store's site to count for in-chat checkout that no longer runs.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • ChatGPT product discovery (ACP feeds)

    OpenAI

    Livesince 24 Mar 2026

    Expanded on 24 Mar 2026. Shoppers find products in ChatGPT and finish on the merchant's site. ACP continues as the feed and discovery protocol.

    How merchants join
    Approved partners send a structured product feed (at least one full snapshot a day), directly or through Shopify Catalog, Stripe or Salesforce.
    Reach
    • OpenAI names Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Lowe's, Best Buy, Home Depot and Wayfair as integrated for discovery. (named by the operator)
    • No merchant count published. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. Feeds are private, so ARC cannot list which merchants are in them. The Protocol Matrix tracks ACP signals on store sites separately.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • ChatGPT apps (merchant apps)

    OpenAI

    Livesince 24 Mar 2026

    Instacart's app has offered checkout inside its app since Dec 2025. Walmart's app arrived around 24 Mar 2026, with checkout on Walmart.

    How merchants join
    Build an app with the Apps SDK and get it listed in the ChatGPT app directory.
    Reach
    • Walmart, Instacart, Target, Expedia and Booking.com named. (named by the operator)
    • Walmart and Instacart details beyond the announcement come from press. (press report, unverified)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. Checkout happens inside each merchant's app, so ARC cannot see it from outside.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Google AI Mode and Gemini checkout (UCP)

    Google

    Live, limitedsince 11 Jan 2026

    Universal Commerce Protocol announced 11 Jan 2026 (NRF). Early access for select US merchants, with Etsy and Wayfair live first. Spec versions 2026-01-11 and 2026-04-08 (Cart API). Australia and Canada are named as next.

    How merchants join
    Set the native_commerce attribute in Merchant Center, use the UCP integration hub, publish a profile at /.well-known/ucp, and wait for Google's approval before going live.
    Reach
    • Etsy and Wayfair live at launch. Shopify, Target and Walmart named as coming. (named by the operator)
    • No merchant count published. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    ARC fetches each store's public /.well-known/ucp profile. A profile shows a store is ready. It does not show Google approved the store, and stores can be approved through Merchant Center without a profile ARC can see.

    Measured by ARC

    8,193 of 10,698 completed store checks, all markets (76.6%)

    Stores with a valid UCP profile. Latest check 6 Nov 2026, snapshot 2026-11-06. /.well-known/ucp returned a profile that passed ARC's validation. A profile shows readiness, not approval by Google or any agent.

    Measured by ARC

    4,682 of 5,060 US stores with a recorded file check (92.5%)

    US spot-check stores with a valid UCP file. Latest check 6 Nov 2026, snapshot 2026-11-06. Hand-picked, Shopify-heavy US list, so this likely overstates the wider market.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Microsoft Copilot Checkout

    Microsoft

    Livesince 8 Jan 2026

    Live in the US since 8 Jan 2026 (NRF), later in the mobile app. Requires English-language merchants selling to US shoppers in USD.

    How merchants join
    Shopify merchants are enrolled automatically with an opt-out window. PayPal and Stripe merchants apply. Others use an eligibility form. Feeds go through Microsoft Merchant Center.
    Reach
    • Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Furniture and Etsy sellers named at launch. (named by the operator)
    • Expanded to 500,000+ merchants. (press report, unverified)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured directly. Shopify stores are enrolled by default, so the Shopify count below is an upper bound for that part, not a count of Copilot merchants.

    Measured by ARC

    8,115 of 10,698 completed store checks (75.9%)

    Checked stores detected as Shopify. Latest check 6 Nov 2026, snapshot 2026-11-06. An agent reached a checkout link at 7,171 of these 8,115 Shopify stores (88.4%). ARC's list is Shopify-heavy and is not a census of Shopify.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Perplexity Instant Buy (PayPal)

    Perplexity and PayPal

    Livesince 25 Nov 2025

    Live in the US since 25 Nov 2025. Perplexity's help page was updated 16 Jul 2026.

    How merchants join
    PayPal merchants sign up through PayPal Store Sync. Perplexity earlier ran its own merchant program.
    Reach
    • More than 5,000 merchants at launch. (press report, unverified)
    • Abercrombie & Fitch, Fabletics, Ashley Furniture, Newegg and Wayfair named. (named by the operator)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. There is no public merchant list, and the checkout runs inside Perplexity.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Amazon Buy for Me and Shop Direct

    Amazon

    Livesince 11 Mar 2026

    Beta from Apr 2025. Expanded on 11 Mar 2026 with third-party feeds. Shop Direct is open to all US customers, including in Rufus. Amazon's own agent completes checkout on the merchant's site.

    How merchants join
    Product feeds through Feedonomics, Salsify or CEDCommerce, with a merchant portal announced. Amazon has also listed brands that did not opt in (Modern Retail, Jan 2026).
    Reach
    • More than 100 million products from more than 400,000 merchants in Shop Direct, and tens of millions of products reachable by Amazon's agent. (vendor claim)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. Amazon's agent visits merchant sites, so merchants can see it in their own logs. ARC cannot.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Shopify Agentic Storefronts and Catalog

    Shopify

    Liveas of 1 Nov 2026

    Announced in the Winter '26 Edition. Live for ChatGPT to US shoppers (checkout on the merchant's store), for Copilot, and for select brands in Google AI Mode and Gemini.

    How merchants join
    On by default for Shopify merchants, managed in Admin under Agentic Storefronts.
    Reach
    • "Millions" of merchants live for ChatGPT, "thousands" for Copilot. (vendor claim)
    What ARC measures

    ARC detects the store platform and checks whether an agent reaches a checkout link. Each store's per-channel opt-in or opt-out is private to the merchant and not measured.

    Measured by ARC

    8,115 of 10,698 completed store checks (75.9%)

    Checked stores detected as Shopify. Latest check 6 Nov 2026, snapshot 2026-11-06. An agent reached a checkout link at 7,171 of these 8,115 Shopify stores (88.4%). ARC's list is Shopify-heavy and is not a census of Shopify.

    Measured by ARC

    4,682 of 5,060 US stores with a recorded file check (92.5%)

    US spot-check stores with a valid UCP file. Latest check 6 Nov 2026, snapshot 2026-11-06. Hand-picked, Shopify-heavy US list, so this likely overstates the wider market.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Shopify Agentic plan (brands not on Shopify)

    Shopify

    Liveas of 1 Nov 2026

    Publicly available worldwide in 2026. Sources disagree on the exact launch date.

    How merchants join
    Sign up for the Agentic plan, verify the business, and add products to Shopify Catalog. A brand does not need a Shopify store.
    Reach
    • No count published. A per-sale fee is reported only by third parties. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. These brands may have no Shopify site, so ARC's website checks miss them.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Stripe Agentic Commerce Suite

    Stripe

    Rolling outsince 11 Dec 2025

    Launched 11 Dec 2025 with a waitlist. Rolling out through Wix, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace and commercetools.

    How merchants join
    Connect the product catalog to Stripe, directly or through a syndicator, and choose agents in the Dashboard. Stripe hosts the ACP endpoint and issues Shared Payment Tokens.
    Reach
    • No merchant count published. (no public figure)
    • Etsy disclosed agentic payments through Stripe in an 8-K. Scope unclear. (press report, unverified)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. The endpoint is hosted by Stripe, not on the store's site, so it cannot be found per merchant.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • PayPal Agentic Commerce Services (Store Sync, Agent Ready)

    PayPal

    Livesince 28 Oct 2025

    Announced 28 Oct 2025. Developer docs describe Agent Ready as live for ChatGPT (ACP through Braintree) and Google AI Mode and Gemini (UCP). WebMCP add-on for Store Sync merchants.

    How merchants join
    Store Sync sign-up, with catalogs through Wix, Cymbio, BigCommerce and Feedonomics, or Shopware. Agent Ready for PayPal and Braintree merchants.
    Reach
    • No merchant count published. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. The feed layer is private. ARC's Protocol Matrix records WebMCP signals on store sites, which shows readiness, not enrollment.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

Rails, not channels

Trust and payment layers that channels run on. A shopper never visits a rail, and none publishes a merchant list, so they are not counted as places agents can reach checkout.

  • Visa Intelligent Commerce and Trusted Agent Protocol

    Visa

    Livesince 14 Oct 2025

    Trusted Agent Protocol launched 14 Oct 2025 with Cloudflare (Web Bot Auth). Intelligent Commerce Connect (Apr 2026) supports TAP, MPP, ACP and UCP. Live transactions reported with European banks.

    How merchants join
    Merchants verify signed agents, usually through their CDN or bot vendor. Agents register in Visa's directory, which is partner-gated.
    Reach
    • Issuers including Barclays, BBVA, HSBC UK, ING and Revolut named. (named by the operator)
    • No merchant list published. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    Merchant acceptance is not visible from outside. The Protocol Matrix payments row shows what ARC records.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • Mastercard Agent Pay

    Mastercard

    Livesince 29 Apr 2025

    Launched 29 Apr 2025. Live transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean (Mar 2026). Verifiable Intent contributed to the FIDO Alliance (Apr 2026).

    How merchants join
    Agent Pay Acceptance Framework: tokenized agent credentials, agent registration in Mastercard's directory, and Web Bot Auth through Cloudflare.
    Reach
    • Citi and U.S. Bank named as first issuers. (named by the operator)
    • No merchant list published. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    Merchant acceptance is not visible from outside. ARC tracks announcements.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol)

    Google, now the FIDO Alliance

    Spec / standardsince 28 Apr 2026

    Announced 16 Sep 2025. Version 0.2 adds the human-not-present flow. Contributed to the FIDO Alliance on 28 Apr 2026.

    How merchants join
    No enrollment. Agents, payment providers and merchants implement the spec.
    Reach
    • No public deployment counts. (no public figure)
    What ARC measures

    ARC can see AP2 only when a store's UCP profile lists it as a payment handler.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

  • x402

    x402 Foundation (Linux Foundation)

    Livesince 14 Jul 2026

    Foundation announced 2 Apr 2026 and operational on 14 Jul 2026. Used mostly for APIs and content, rarely for retail.

    How merchants join
    Any HTTP server answers 402 Payment Required with payment terms. Facilitators settle the payment.
    Reach
    • More than 50 member organizations. (vendor claim)
    • 165M+ cumulative transactions and about $50M volume by Apr 2026. (press report, unverified)
    What ARC measures

    Not measured. ARC does not probe store endpoints for 402 responses.

    Sources

    Verified 1 Nov 2026

UCP adoption by platform, measured by ARC

Counted from ARC's open snapshot of 6 Nov 2026 (2026-11-06): 10,698 completed store checks, 10,221 fully tested. Every figure is count / denominator. ARC's protocol rows here are measured on stores. Announcement trackers record what companies say.

UCP adoption per platform, snapshot 2026-11-06
PlatformFully testedUCP profile presentValid UCP profileUCP catalog returned a checkout link
Shopify8,108 of 8,115 completed8,076 / 8,115 (99.5%)8,025 / 8,115 (98.9%)7,171 / 8,108 (88.4%)
Salesforce Commerce Cloud156 of 168 completed117 / 168 (69.6%)0 / 168 (0.0%)0 / 156 (0.0%)
Adobe Commerce / Magento75 of 78 completed52 / 78 (66.7%)0 / 78 (0.0%)0 / 75 (0.0%)
WooCommerce100 of 107 completed23 / 107 (21.5%)0 / 107 (0.0%)0 / 100 (0.0%)
BigCommerce52 of 52 completed51 / 52 (98.1%)50 / 52 (96.2%)0 / 52 (0.0%)
Other or not detected1,730 of 2,178 completed1,297 / 2,178 (59.6%)118 / 2,178 (5.4%)49 / 1,730 (2.8%)

Across snapshots

Valid UCP profile, then checkout link, per dated snapshot. n per date: 9 Oct 2026 n = 3,307 completed, 2,960 fully tested; 12 Oct 2026 n = 3,318 completed, 2,970 fully tested; 30 Oct 2026 n = 10,610 completed, 10,146 fully tested; 6 Nov 2026 n = 10,698 completed, 10,221 fully tested.

UCP adoption per platform across snapshots
PlatformValid profile trend9 Oct 202612 Oct 202630 Oct 20266 Nov 2026
Shopifyvalid 1,491 / 1,557 (95.8%)link 1,264 / 1,550 (81.5%)valid 1,494 / 1,561 (95.7%)link 1,266 / 1,554 (81.5%)valid 8,025 / 8,115 (98.9%)link 7,171 / 8,108 (88.4%)valid 8,025 / 8,115 (98.9%)link 7,171 / 8,108 (88.4%)
Salesforce Commerce Cloudvalid 0 / 152 (0.0%)link 0 / 141 (0.0%)valid 0 / 152 (0.0%)link 0 / 141 (0.0%)valid 0 / 162 (0.0%)link 0 / 150 (0.0%)valid 0 / 168 (0.0%)link 0 / 156 (0.0%)
Adobe Commerce / Magentovalid 0 / 57 (0.0%)link 0 / 54 (0.0%)valid 0 / 57 (0.0%)link 0 / 54 (0.0%)valid 0 / 77 (0.0%)link 0 / 74 (0.0%)valid 0 / 78 (0.0%)link 0 / 75 (0.0%)
WooCommercevalid 0 / 52 (0.0%)link 0 / 50 (0.0%)valid 0 / 52 (0.0%)link 0 / 50 (0.0%)valid 0 / 104 (0.0%)link 0 / 98 (0.0%)valid 0 / 107 (0.0%)link 0 / 100 (0.0%)
BigCommercevalid 41 / 44 (93.2%)link 0 / 44 (0.0%)valid 42 / 45 (93.3%)link 0 / 45 (0.0%)valid 50 / 52 (96.2%)link 0 / 52 (0.0%)valid 50 / 52 (96.2%)link 0 / 52 (0.0%)
Other or not detectedvalid 65 / 1,445 (4.5%)link 45 / 1,121 (4.0%)valid 65 / 1,451 (4.5%)link 45 / 1,126 (4.0%)valid 109 / 2,100 (5.2%)link 48 / 1,664 (2.9%)valid 118 / 2,178 (5.4%)link 49 / 1,730 (2.8%)
Fully tested
Completed checks minus stores that turned ARC's automated check away, the same denominator as the homepage headline and the statistics page.
UCP profile present
Something answered at /.well-known/ucp, valid or not (ucp_profile_valid yes or no), among completed checks. An invalid answer can be an HTML page or another body that is not a UCP profile, so this is an upper bound on stores that publish a profile. A missing profile (not_found_at_host) and a turned-away file check are not counted.
Valid UCP profile
The UCP profile passed ARC's validation (ucp_profile_valid yes), among completed checks.
Checkout link
ARC's HTTP check asked the store's UCP catalog for a product and got a checkout link back, among fully tested stores. A link is not an order: ARC stops before payment.
Coverage
Snapshots cover different store lists, so n changes between dates. Compare rates, not raw counts, and read each rate with its n. Before the 15 Oct 2026 method change, ucp_profile_valid no could include some hosts with no profile, so profile present is an upper bound on those dates.

Shopify, noted 2 Nov 2026

Shopify's “Migrate from Storefront MCP” page says: “The catalog and cart tools on https://{shop}/api/mcp were removed. Use the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) instead.” “UCP now provides these capabilities at https://{shop}/api/ucp/mcp.” Shopify's changelog of 24 Jun 2026 marked the cart tools deprecated. A store with no legacy Storefront MCP catalog at /api/mcp is no longer a negative signal. ARC reads the UCP profile and the UCP catalog at /api/ucp/mcp instead.

Data: open dataset · what changed between snapshots · statistics.

What ARC cannot see

Feed membership (ACP, Shopify Catalog, Stripe, PayPal Store Sync, Amazon feeds), per-channel opt-outs, conversion and sales, and card-network merchant acceptance are private. ARC reports the operator's own claim with its source and date, and does not count it as measured. A missing number is not a zero.

Corrections and updates: /corrections. Method: /methodology. Free to use under CC-BY-4.0 with attribution to ARC, arcreport.ai.