Model Context Protocol
The Model Context Protocol, usually shortened to MCP, is an open standard for connecting an AI model to external tools and data through one defined interface, so a capability can be published once and used by any client that speaks the protocol.
It is not a commerce protocol, and that is worth stating plainly because the names get mixed up. MCP describes how a model reaches a tool. What that tool does, whether it searches a catalogue or books a courier, is entirely up to whoever built it.
A merchant can expose catalogue or order tooling this way, and some platforms do. It does not replace the storefront, because an agent that has never heard of your server will still arrive at your product pages and read them.
Why it matters to a store
Useful to know the boundary. If someone tells you MCP support makes a store agent ready, they are describing one route in. The storefront is the route every agent has.