How to Sell on AI Shopping Channels Without Replatforming
Selling on AI shopping channels no longer depends on which ecommerce platform you run. In this article, we look at how brands can sell on AI shopping channels without replatforming and how to prepare your catalogue for them.
Written By
Emma Merryweather
In our previous article, we looked at what determines a brand’s AI search visibility. Being recommended is the first step.
AI tools are becoming places to buy, not just places to research. In the US, shoppers can already complete a purchase inside Google AI Mode, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot without visiting a retailer’s website.
For brands, that makes AI a sales channel in its own right. In-chat checkout is currently limited to the US, with a wider rollout underway. For UK brands, that makes now a good time to prepare.
The channel is growing quickly. AI-driven traffic to Shopify stores in Q1 2026 was eight times higher than a year earlier, and orders from AI-powered searches were nearly 13 times higher. New buyers are also placing orders through AI channels at nearly twice the rate of other channels.
How brands can sell on AI shopping channels without replatforming
Two developments have made AI selling possible for brands on any platform. The first is an open standard that lets AI tools handle checkout.
An open standard for AI checkout
In January 2026, Google announced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), co-developed with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart. UCP gives AI agents a common language to connect with retailers, handle checkout, and complete transactions.
UCP isn’t exclusive to Shopify. It’s an open infrastructure layer that any retailer can build on, whatever sits underneath.
For the shopper, this means a purchase can be completed inside the AI interface. UCP already powers checkout in Google AI Mode and the Gemini app for US shoppers, with a broader rollout underway. Microsoft Copilot also supports checkout within the conversation.
The retailer remains the merchant of record and keeps control of its own business logic. We’ve covered what UCP and Google’s AI checkout tools mean for retailers in more detail separately.
The Shopify Agentic Plan
The second is the Shopify Agentic Plan, built for brands that don’t run a Shopify online store. It opens up Shopify Catalog, the product layer that feeds AI channels, to brands on any platform.
Shopify describes it as designed to sit alongside an existing commerce stack, rather than replace it.
The Agentic Plan has no monthly subscription fee. Brands pay payment processing fees when a sale completes through an AI channel’s Shopify-powered checkout. Other fees can apply depending on the channel and payment provider.
Setup starts with your existing systems. Brands upload their product data once, and Shopify can connect to existing tax and order management systems. The catalogue then syndicates to ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity and the Shop app. Shopify says more channels will follow.
One product sync reaches every one of those channels. Shopify Catalog is designed to standardise, structure and enrich product data before it reaches each one.
Availability currently depends on the market. Direct checkout in Google AI Mode and Gemini is limited to US-based stores selling to US customers. Shopify notifies merchants when AI channels become available to them.
Shopify’s Knowledge Base feature is designed to show brands which questions shoppers are asking about their products inside AI chats. Brands can then add answers on returns, shipping and wider brand context. That gives you more control over how your products are described when they’re recommended.
What the Agentic Plan handles, and what’s still yours
The Agentic Plan takes care of the connection to AI channels. A few things still sit with your team.
What it handles
- Getting your catalogue into the major AI shopping channels through a single sync.
- A choice of checkout: inside the AI conversation where available, or via a link to your own checkout.
- A usage-based cost model, so you can test the channel before committing a budget to it.
What’s still yours
- Data quality. Shopify Catalog helps enrich product data, but it can only work with what you give it. Clear titles, accurate variants and specific attributes remain your responsibility.
- Your own storefront. Checkout conversion, subscriptions, B2B functionality and personalisation on your own site still depend on your current platform.
- Brand presentation. In an AI channel, your product appears in the format that channel uses. The product data, policies and Knowledge Base answers you supply shape how your brand comes across there.
Choosing how shoppers check out
Through the Agentic Plan, AI channels can handle a purchase in two ways. Shoppers can check out inside the AI conversation, or follow a link through to the brand’s own checkout.
For most brands, we’d recommend starting with a link to their own checkout. Loyalty, order and fulfilment rules and subscriptions all stay on the brand’s existing platform. It’s also quicker to set up. In-chat purchases require separate orders and payment processing on Shopify, which a link to your own checkout avoids.
Getting ready to sell on AI shopping channels
The Agentic Plan is designed to connect to the systems you already run. The results depend more on the quality of what you connect.
On your own site, a shopper has already chosen to visit your brand. In an AI channel, your product sits next to competitors, and the AI system decides what to show based on the information available. Clear, consistent data gives it more to work with.
The readiness checklist we take brands through at Swanky covers four areas:
- Catalogue and data quality
- Inventory and fulfilment accuracy
- Pricing and promotion governance
- Customer-facing policies written in plain language
None of these is new. AI shopping simply makes them more visible and gives brands a clear reason to get them in order.
For UK brands, this is work that can start now, so they’re ready when in-chat checkout becomes available.
Several of these areas overlap with the factors that influence AI search visibility, from structured product data to consistent information across channels. Getting them in order helps a brand turn recommendations into sales.
Where this fits in your wider roadmap
Selling through the Agentic Plan doesn’t depend on a wider platform decision. Brands can get ready now and start selling as the channel becomes available to them.
For brands already reviewing their platform, it also gives the team early experience of Shopify’s tooling. That experience can inform the decision when the time comes.
For brands already on Shopify, the route is simpler still. AI selling is built into the platform and managed from Agentic Storefronts in the Shopify admin. It’s switched on by default once a store becomes eligible.
Work with Swanky to sell on AI shopping channels without replatforming
Swanky helps ecommerce brands sell on AI shopping channels, whatever platform they currently run on. Our Agentic Commerce Readiness service covers configuring the Shopify Agentic Plan, optimising product data and building out Knowledge Base content. Where it’s relevant, our Applied AI Consultancy team can also advise on the right architecture for your existing stack.
If you’d like a clearer picture of what selling on AI shopping channels could look like for your business, get in touch with our team.