UCP - Ice Age for Your Customer Data? A Critical View
by Marcel Hollerbach · World of Commerce
UCP - Ice Age for Your Customer Data? A Critical View
I dove into the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) specification to understand exactly what data is being passed to merchants.
What you get is currently quite limited:
📦 Product ID 🔢 Quantity 📧 Buyer email 📍 Shipping address ✅ Payment confirmation
I had hoped merchants would receive deeper consumer search insights, but for now, that data stays behind the "Google curtain." 🏛️
The "Data Gap" for Merchants
Here is the info merchants don't get right now: ❓ The original intent: (e.g., "I am looking for running shoes for forest grounds.") 🤔 The "Why": Why your product was chosen over another. ⚠️ Concerns: What specific hesitations the user had before buying. 💬 The Journey: The actual conversation that led to the purchase. 🏁 Competitors: Which brands were compared during the session.
2022 vs. 2027: The Customer Flow Shift 📉
In 2022: The customer visits the merchant’s site. You see their search terms, how they navigate, and which products they compare. This data allows you to build rich customer personas.
In 2027: An AI agent simply sends the merchant an order, and the merchant fulfills it. You are left in the dark regarding why the product was bought or how the customer behaved. Building a persona becomes nearly impossible. 🌑
What’s Next?
Let’s see how this develops. I’d bet Google will eventually pass on more data to drive merchant adoption and acceptance of UCP. If they don't, merchants lose their most valuable asset: the relationship with the customer.
What do you think? Is the convenience of UCP worth the loss of first-party data? 👇