India, July 26, 2022: Shopify, a leading provider of essential internet infrastructure for commerce, today made YouTube Shopping available to its millions of merchants around the world, opening a powerful new way for creators to use trusted, quality content to connect to consumers, build their brand and grow the business.

Content creators and merchants will have the ability to directly connect with their audiences on the YouTube platform to create a compelling shopping experience, while further monetising and successfully building their business.
As the world’s second most used social media platform and search engine, YouTube offers the convenience of researching and reviewing products online at home, but with the trusted guidance of an in-store experience. Nearly 90% of viewers believe YouTube creators offer recommendations they can trust, and almost as many (87%) say they get the highest quality information about products when shopping or browsing on YouTube.
Shopify research found that more than half (56%) of Indian consumers will connect with brand-created content including entertainment videos this year. And, nearly 1-in-2 (48%) expect to attend a live shopping event this year — more than double the number (23%) who did so in 2021.

Shopify merchants can choose to sell their full range of products to YouTube’s two billion monthly users through YouTube Live, Shorts, and VOD content in three ways:

• 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
• Videos: Merchants can show a curated list of products in a product shelf below on-demand videos
• Store tab: A new tab will be added to a merchant’s YouTube channel, featuring their entire selection of products

“Where consumers spend time is where they spend money and Shopify’s partnership with YouTube unlocks new pathways for Indian merchants to reach consumers here and around the world with new and engaging video content,” said Bharati Balakrishnan, Shopify’s Country Head and Director for India. “YouTube is one of the most influential channels in India and the integration with Shopify will fundamentally change what opportunity looks like for independent brands across India. We’re thrilled to expand our long-term partnership with Google to push the boundaries of D2C commerce on YouTube.”

Shopify powers each merchant’s retail operating system, syncing and updating product details including names, images, pricing, and shipping seamlessly 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.

“For years, creators have built businesses around their YouTube content, often extending their entrepreneurship into building their own brands, but it hasn’t been as seamless to reach their audience with these products directly on YouTube,” said David Katz, VP of Shopping at YouTube. “We’re excited to partner with Shopify to help creators easily bring their stores front and center for their communities on YouTube, who are increasingly turning to them to shop.”

YouTube Shopping is available now to Shopify merchants globally. Learn more about YouTube Shopping on Shopify here.