YouTube Creators Can Now Sell Products Directly From Their Shopify Store

The traditional shopping journey has evolved enormously over the last few years as eCommerce continues to surge in popularity. Now consumers are faced with a staggering array of purchasing options right at their fingertips, as they increasingly turn to social media sites for reviews and recommendations from influencers and creators they trust. 

Social platforms are catching on and taking advantage of this, developing smarter and better ways to streamline and optimize the online shopping experience. YouTube’s latest step in this direction enables eligible creators to link their Shopify store to their YouTube Channel, making it possible for customers to make purchases directly from their video content. 

Could you leverage this new development to boost your online sales? Let’s take a closer look.

How The YouTube – Shopify Integration Works

A natural extension to YouTube’s recent online shopping focus, YouTube’s partnership with eCommerce superstar Shopify is a boon for merchants and shoppers alike. Content creators and merchants will now be able to hit viewers with merch information right when they have their full attention in one of three ways: 

• By tagging products during a livestream in which picture-in-picture play enables viewers to continue watching the livestream even when checking out their cart
• With a product shelf that will be displayed below on-demand videos featuring various listed items. 
• Through a store tab added to their channel that will link to their entire product range with a single click of the button. 

Not only will viewers be able to easily make purchases by clicking on a built-in buy button on the site, but a new inventory feature also enables them to see in real time whether the items they would like are still available to purchase or not. This means no more frustrated customers clicking through to Shopify only to find the products they are after are not currently available. 

Beyond greater visibility and better automation between the two platforms, creators can also gain access to additional features such as live shopping and a shop tab that serves as a digital storefront for them to make subscribers aware that they have products for sale. 

Why The YouTube – Shopify Integration Works

Creators and viewers have a unique relationship that puts the former in a firm position to guide purchasing decisions by the latter. Creators and influencers have cultivated the kind of trust amongst their followings that fosters complete confidence in their product recommendations. Subscribers not only view them as experts within their particular niche but also as friends from whom they are happy to take advice from. Influencer marketing is without a doubt a powerful phenomenon and we already know how it has been particularly effective amongst the Millenial and Gen-Z audiences.

This is one of the reasons many brands have enjoyed such success from integrating YouTube content into their marketing strategy, and why you should consider it as well. The Youtube Shopify integration offers a powerful opportunity for you to increase brand awareness, while reaching untapped sectors of your audience you may not otherwise have been able to access. The millions of merchants in Shopify’s network can now leverage YouTube’s over 2 billion monthly active users to access new audiences and massively expand the reach of their product offerings. And if you do have a channel, subscribers who readily view your content will now also become an audience of potential consumers for your Shopify store.After all, the inspiration to shop can hit anyone, anywhere, and at any time – POW!

The fact is, this kind of direct on-site purchasing power takes shopping convenience to a whole new level. Effortless online experiences are now the gold standard and are what modern consumers expect and crave. Aren’t we all just looking for the quickest, easiest ways to get our hands on the items we want right when we want them? YouTube understands that and is developing the features to offer exactly that to its users. 

For instance, the Live Shopping aspect of YouTube’s new user experience as part of their “Ready, Set, Shop on YouTube” focus is all set to push the boundaries of convenience shopping even further by jumping on the ‘bringing shopping to life’ bandwagon that is already taking China by storm. With US creators now able to sell their products in real time while interacting with their viewers as they do so, a new age of retail awaits.

How YouTube – Shopify Integration Could Work For You

YouTube’s primary aim with this integration is to target existing creators looking for ever better ways to market and sell their own products. In this way, they are keeping the viewers and the people who draw the viewers in happy. According to eligibility criteria, as a merchant or creator you will need at least 1,000 subscribers or an Official Artist Channel.

If you have a Shopify store and would like to benefit from YouTube’s new shopping features but don’t yet have a channel on the platform, it should be your top priority to sign up and start scaling your presence. With video content (both long and short form) quickly becoming the hot new ticket in attracting buyers’ attention, this is worth exploring anyhow. 

Whether you are looking to build your social media presence, increase sales in your Shopify store, get support connecting your Shopify and YouTube accounts, or optimize your Shopify marketing strategy, the digital marketing experts at Firon Marketing are here to help. Get in touch today to find out what we can do for you.