YouTube announces partnership with Shopify to enable social shopping

The partnership will give creators an option to link their Shopify store to their YouTube channel.

To enable shopping on the YouTube, the platform announced a collaboration with Shopify. Content creators and merchants will be able to feature their products across YouTube channels and on different types of content. Eligible creators also have the option of linking their Shopify store to their YouTube account.

The creators who choose to link their stores can display their products across the channel. Shopify also comes with a real-time inventory syncing feature so that if the product goes out of stock, it does not appear on the channel.

So far in the US, creators have the option to enable ‘onsite checkout’ - a feature that enables creators to complete the purchase and finish the transaction without leaving YouTube’s platform.

“Starting next week, we will also be introducing a shopping destination in the explore tab that will feature shoppable relevant content for viewers,” writes David Katz, vice president - shopping product, YouTube.

According to a study, done in partnership with Publicis with TalkShoppe, it was found that 89% of viewers feel that they can trust the recommendations that YouTube creators give them.

Katz writes that the main intent is to make it easier for content creators to connect and manage their stores on YouTube and bring their products directly to their audience.

“My design videos perform well in terms of views and growing my following. By allowing the viewer to shop directly from YouTube, it makes shopping seamless and easy. I predict that this will heavily impact my conversion rate which will help more people give my products and my brand a chance,” writes Cassey Ho, creator & Shopify merchant, in the post.

The YouTube Studio is a tool that content creators use to edit and upload their videos. To enable an easier shopping experience - YouTube Studio will now come equipped with a ‘Shopping’ tab so that creators can manage how their products are tagged and how they appear in their videos. Eligible creators also have the option to tag products to a life stream directly from the Live Control Room.