YouTube has announced a host of new shopping features enabling Shopify merchants to feature their products across their YouTube channels and content.

With the launch of the YouTube Shopping on Shopify, merchants can easily integrate their online store with one of the world’s biggest entertainment platforms, reaching over 2 billion monthly logged-in users.

David Katz, Vice President Shopping Product, YouTube

“We’re announcing our partnership with Shopify to enable creators and merchants to easily feature their products across their YouTube channels and content.

Creators who link their stores can display their products across their channel and benefit from Shopify’s real-time inventory syncing so that viewers are never disappointed to find a product out of stock.”

Your YouTube Shopping options

Shopify merchants can sell their full range of products on YouTube in three ways:

1. Live streams: Merchants can tag and pin products at key points during a livestream, and picture-in-picture playback means consumers can watch while they check out
2. Videos: Merchants can show a curated list of products in a product shelf below on-demand videos
3. Store tab: A new tab will be added to a merchant’s YouTube channel, featuring their entire selection of products

Because Shopify acts as a merchant’s retail operating system, product details, including names, images, pricing, and shipping, are seamlessly updated across channels. If a product sells out, it’s automatically removed from YouTube.

Merchants can also track performance of live and on-demand videos directly from their Shopify admin, with a full view of multichannel sales.

YouTube – a shopping destination

YouTube says 89% of viewers trust recommendations from creators, which means that eCommerce tie-ins could be more lucrative than you think. And, US creators can take advantage of onsite checkout – which means users can complete purchases from within YouTube. So, in that regard, it can be a shopping destination.

Furthermore, YouTube is trying hard to make the platform a shoppable place. It’s made live-streamed events such as Coachella shoppable and worked hard on product launches with companies like Glossier.

It will also make a section of the Explore tab display shoppable content for US, Brazilian and Indian users.

Kaz Nejatian, VP of Product at Shopify

“Commerce today is multichannel, and YouTube is one of the most influential channels on the planet.

Shopify’s new YouTube integration will fundamentally change what opportunity looks like for independent brands in the creator economy. We’re thrilled to expand our long-term partnership with Google to push the boundaries of D2C commerce on YouTube.”

Appealing for influencers and brands

For influencer marketing purposes, the Shopify crossover increases creators’ ability to earn more revenue from their videos in a couple of ways.

First, it makes brand partnerships more appealing for businesses because now there’s a direct way to translate views into purchases – which could be lucrative for all parties involved.

Second, it can provide a pathway for influencers who sell their own products to maximise their reach and audience to earn new revenue.

Cassey Ho, creator & Shopify merchant, Blogilates, via Google

“My most viral videos are my design videos. The incredible thing is that not only do these videos perform well in terms of views and growing my following, but these videos can literally sell out the featured product in a matter of hours!”

For brands who worked hard to build up a following on YouTube, the move means all that effort brings with it the chance to monetise content in a more effective way.

Say you’re a kitchenware company and you’ve been making foody videos, adverts or innovative product videos. Now, you’ll be able to sell your audience that latest food mixer without them leaving YouTube.

Account eligibility criteria

To quality, you need to have at least 10,000 subscribers. You also need to make sure your channel audience isn’t set to Made for Kids, your channel doesn’t have videos that violate monetisation policies and you haven’t received any Hate Speach strikes.

How to link YouTube with Shopify

To make the most of the Shopify link-up, you need to follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your YouTube Studio account.
2. Click on Monitisation on the left-hand side.
3. Click Shopping.
4. Click Connect Store.
5. Click Shopify.
6. Select Continue.

You will be directed to Shopify to finish the process. When you’ve signed in, you’ll need to go through the below process:

1. When you’re in Shopify, add the Google Channel app.
2. Click Add sales channel on the top right.
3. Sign in by hitting the Connect Google account button.
4. Go through the requirements.
5. Add your Google Merchant Center account and agree to the terms of service.
6. Hit Complete setup.

Now that sounds like a lot, but it is fairly straightforward. When that’s all done, you need to sync your products with YouTube.

1. Select Get Started.
2. Hit Continue.
3. A drop-down menu should appear. Select your channel from it.
4. Agree to the terms of service and click Complete setup.