YouTube and Shopify today announced a platform integration that will allow merchants and content creators to ‘upload their store to YouTube’.

The ecommerce company is infiltrating YouTube’s livestream and on-demand videos with new features that encourage buying while viewing.

For years, creators have built businesses around their YouTube content. But, according to David Katz, YouTube’s vice president of shopping product, there hasn’t been a ‘seamless’ way to sell products on YouTube before. 

Shopify users globally will now be able to sell their full range of products on YouTube in three ways:

• tagging and pinning products at key points during a livestream
• displaying a curated list of products in a product shelf below on-demand videos, and
• adding their products to a new ‘store tab’ on their YouTube channel.

Who benefits from YouTube Shopping?

The two platforms say their partnership combines ‘commerce and community’. As YouTubers increasingly sell goods to viewers, and merchants create more content to connect with customers, it’s likely to benefit both groups.

“Content is now at the centre of brand interactions, and has given rise to the creator economy, blurring the line between merchant and creator,” according to a joint press release.

Only a select few eligible merchants (as yet unspecified by Shopify) will have an ‘on-site check’. This means consumers can purchase without actually leaving YouTube, an option increasingly preferred by social media apps. 

But all users who connect Shopify to YouTube will have their product names, prices and shipping kept up-to-date across channels. The partners have promised that if a product sells out, it will be automatically removed from YouTube.

Merchants can also track performance of videos directly from their Shopify admin, with a full view of multichannel sales. With YouTube Shopping, Shopify paves a smoother path from brand discovery to purchase. The partnership expands direct-to-consumer commerce, and stokes the flames of social media commoditisation.