The Retailer’s UCP Starter Kit: A 7‑Day Plan to Make Your Catalog Buyable by AI Assistants (Gemini, Alexa+, Qira)

Assistant channels are no longer a demo—they’re a distribution layer across web, car, and desktop. If you run a Shopify/WooCommerce store or a marketplace, the fastest way to participate is to make your catalog and actions legible to assistants and their orchestration layers via structured data and simple endpoints.

This guide gives you a one‑week, practical plan to implement a Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) style setup so assistants can discover products, check stock, and complete purchases—while you can track revenue end‑to‑end.

Who this is for

Shopify/WooCommerce brands with 100–50,000 SKUs.
Services with bookable inventory (appointments, classes, rentals).
Marketplaces that broker multiple vendors but control checkout.

Before you start (Day 0)

Pick one product line (50–200 SKUs) to pilot.
Confirm you can expose read‑only endpoints for products, availability, pricing, and a write endpoint for checkout or reservation.
Create a staging subdomain, e.g., assistant.yourbrand.com.

Day 1 — Make products machine‑readable

Assistants discover and reason from structured data. Add JSON‑LD to PDPs and create a signed catalog feed.

On‑page JSON‑LD (Product + Offer)

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Aurora Running Shoe – Black",
  "sku": "AUR-001-BLK",
  "mpn": "AUR-001",
  "brand": {"@type": "Brand","name": "Aurora"},
  "image": ["https://cdn.yourbrand.com/aur-001-blk.jpg"],
  "description": "Lightweight daily trainer with responsive foam.",
  "gtin13": "0123456789012",
  "category": "Sports > Running Shoes",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "119.00",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
    "url": "https://www.yourbrand.com/products/aurora-running-shoe-black"
  }
}

Also add FAQPage or HowTo where relevant for assistants that summarize answers.

Signed catalog feed

Expose a daily JSON feed at /ucp/catalog.json with product IDs, titles, canonical URLs, main image, price, currency, and stock status. Include a short HMAC signature in headers so platforms can verify integrity.

Day 2 — Publish availability and pricing endpoints

Assistants must confirm price/stock in real time. Add a read endpoint that supports batched queries.

GET /ucp/availability?ids=AUR-001-BLK,AUR-002-BLU
Authorization: Bearer <token>

{
  "items": [
    {"id": "AUR-001-BLK", "stock": 27, "status": "InStock", "price": 119.00, "currency": "USD"},
    {"id": "AUR-002-BLU", "stock": 0,  "status": "OutOfStock", "price": 119.00, "currency": "USD"}
  ],
  "timestamp": "2026-01-18T15:00:00Z"
}

Return current price, currency, and an InStock/OutOfStock/PreOrder status. Cache for 60–120 seconds.

Day 3 — Add a simple checkout (or reservation) action

Create a server‑side action endpoint so assistants can place an order on behalf of a signed‑in user or generate a pre‑filled checkout link.

POST /ucp/actions/checkout
Authorization: Bearer <token>
{
  "user": {"email": "sam@example.com"},
  "items": [{"id": "AUR-001-BLK", "qty": 1, "variant": "US-10"}],
  "shipping": {"country": "US", "postalCode": "94107"},
  "payment": {"method": "link"}
}

// Response A: server-side order
{"orderId": "ORD-9876", "status": "confirmed", "total": 129.54, "currency": "USD"}

// Response B: redirect for user confirmation
{"checkoutUrl": "https://www.yourbrand.com/checkout?session=abc123"}

Support both flows. If you do reservations (services, rentals), name the action book and include start/end times.

Day 4 — Identity, policy, and safety guardrails

Auth: OAuth 2.0 client credentials for platform‑to‑merchant calls; short‑lived tokens (≤15 min).
PII: Encrypt at rest; never return full card data; prefer payment links or network tokens.
Policies: Return NotServicable for restricted regions/items; require explicit confirmation for age‑gated or high‑value SKUs.
Observability: Log assistant_source, assistant_session_id, and action_type on every call.

Day 5 — Content for intent capture (AASO)

Create assistant‑friendly landing pages that map to common intents (e.g., “lightweight daily trainer under $120”). Keep copy concise, list 3–6 SKUs with structured data, and include a clear action (“Buy,” “Book,” or “Subscribe”). For a deeper playbook on Assistant App Store Optimization (AASO), see this guide.

Day 6 — Wire up analytics and attribution

You need proof that assistants drive revenue. Add UTM‑style parameters and headers to every redirect and server‑side call, and surface them in your BI.

// When generating a checkout link
checkoutUrl += "&utm_source=assistant&utm_medium=alexa_plus&utm_campaign=ucp_pilot";

// Log on server
{
  "assistant_source": "alexa_plus", // or gemini, qira
  "assistant_session_id": "sess_4f72...",
  "action": "checkout",
  "value": 129.54,
  "currency": "USD"
}

Then follow a 72‑hour attribution setup using the steps in Assistant Attribution 101.

Day 7 — Test like a user (and an agent)

Use natural‑language prompts that mirror real shopping journeys. Examples:

“I need a breathable running shoe under $120. Men’s US 10. In stock for delivery this week.”
“Book a 45‑minute bike tune‑up near 10001 tomorrow between 2–5pm.”
“Subscribe me to 12‑count compostable trash bags every 30 days.”
“Compare your black and navy daily trainers by weight and heel‑to‑toe drop.”
“What’s the return policy and where’s the nearest drop‑off?”

Validate the flow: discovery → availability check → price confirm → action (buy/book/subscribe) → attribution recorded.

Shopify/WooCommerce quick starts

Shopify: Use a Private App or Custom App to read Products/Inventory and post Orders. Host /ucp/* endpoints on a lightweight Node/Go service (Cloudflare Workers works great) and sign calls with HMAC.
WooCommerce: Use REST API keys for read/write. Add a small plugin to expose /ucp/availability and /ucp/actions/checkout; reuse Woo’s webhooks for order status.

Quality bar and fail‑safes

Include essential product attributes assistants rely on: size, color, weight, dimensions, material, compatibility, and care.
Return precise errors: InvalidVariant, NotServicable, QtyExceeded, PriceChanged.
Offer graceful fallbacks: if server‑side checkout fails, return a time‑boxed, pre‑filled checkoutUrl.

What good looks like (signals to watch)

≥80% of PDPs with valid Product and Offer JSON‑LD.
/ucp/availability p95 < 400 ms; error rate < 0.5%.
First assistant‑sourced order within 7–14 days of go‑live.
Dashboard showing assistant‑sourced revenue and top intents.

Where to go deeper next

Speed‑run the initial fixes in this 72‑hour UCP checklist.
If you’re building for ambient surfaces (web, car, desk), see this 72‑hour playbook.
E‑commerce owners: run the 7‑day sales plan to connect storefronts to assistants.
Stay current with our weekly roundup: This Week in Agentic Commerce.

Need this done for you?

HireNinja ships assistant‑ready endpoints, schema, and attribution in as little as 72 hours. We’ll connect your Shopify/WooCommerce store, add UCP‑style endpoints, and set up dashboards so you can prove revenue fast.

Talk to HireNinja about a 7‑day pilot.

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