Agentic Commerce Is Here, and Installments Are Already Changing How Shoppers Buy

Google just launched the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI complete purchases on behalf of consumers. Built with Shopify, Target, Walmart, Etsy, and Wayfair, and endorsed by dozens of major players, this open standard is designed to turn AI interactions into actual sales, and support the entire shopping journey.

The real story isn’t just checkout. It’s also the discovery phase. And that’s where installment payments are already changing outcomes.

Discovery Has Already Shifted

The numbers are clear: During the 2025 holiday season, Adobe Analytics tracked a 693% year-over-year increase in traffic from generative AI tools to U.S. retail sites. Cyber Monday alone saw AI-driven referrals jump 670%.

This traffic is high-quality. AI-referred visitors bounce less, stay longer, and view more pages than typical referral traffic. These are high-intent shoppers actively evaluating products.

The catch? Early AI-driven traffic converted at lower rates than traditional channels. AI excels at discovery, but checkout completion hasn’t fully shifted to AI platforms yet. That gap creates an opportunity for merchants who own the full journey on their own sites.

When AI Finds the Right Product at the Wrong Price

Installments aren’t just an afterthought. They’re something AI can potentially factor into its recommendations.

For example, say a shopper asks AI to find a quality winter coat under $250. The agent surfaces a $400 option that matches every requirement: warmth rating, style, durability, and strong reviews. Without a payment solution, that conversation hits a wall.

With card-linked installments, the agent can present an alternative: “This coat is above your budget, but you could pay $135 a month for three months. No application, no new account, no added fees.”

The shopper gets the product they actually want. The merchant captures a sale that would have walked.

Splitit merchants typically see 3X average order value (AOV). In an agentic context, that dynamic gets stronger because the agent can factor affordability into its recommendations in real time.

Why Predictable Approval Matters for AI

For an AI agent to confidently recommend a payment option, it needs certainty. Traditional BNPL introduces variables the agent can’t control: credit applications, approval decisions, and new account creation. If a shopper gets declined after the agent recommended a product based on installment availability, that’s a failed experience on all accounts. 

Card-linked installments remove that uncertainty. The shopper uses their existing credit card, with credit already approved by their bank. Approval rates run above 85% because there’s no new underwriting decision. 

As AI increasingly mediates the shopping journey, payment methods that introduce approval uncertainty and lack speed will get deprioritized.

Card-linked Installments Work Differently

Merchants want to keep the customer relationship intact and the checkout flow frictionless. Splitit’s white-label integration means your brand stays front and center. There’s no marketplace pushing shoppers toward competitors. No data getting harvested for someone else’s marketing. You stay in control.

Google’s UCP framework will support this in the coming months. Retailers remain the merchant of record. Customer data stays with the business. Payment flexibility becomes part of the AI experience, not a hand-off to a third party.

How Should Retailers Stay Ahead?

Deploy AI-powered discovery on your own site today. Integrate payment flexibility, and capture demand that would otherwise bounce due to price constraints.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol serves as the building blocks and the open-source infrastructure that enables retailers to deploy AI-powered discovery and checkout.

At Splitit, we’re building for this moment, which is why we’re supporting UCP. We help merchants capture sales that would otherwise slip away to budget concerns, while keeping the customer relationship where it belongs: with you.

Collin Flotta is Head of Product at Splitit. Splitit is the only global installment payments platform that lets shoppers use the credit they already have. By turning card-linked purchases into flexible installments, Splitit gives consumers a simple, transparent way to pay over time, while merchants get paid upfront. Merchants boost conversion and order value, while issuers drive card engagement and strengthen cardholder loyalty – all without third party brand redirects or added risk. Trusted by leading brands across luxury retail, digital marketplaces, and technology, Splitit is used in more than 100 countries and powers embedded installments inside Samsung Wallet for seamless in-store payments worldwide.