In this photo illustration the Canadian e-commerce company Shopify Inc. logo seen displayed displayed on a smartphone.
Thomas Trutschel | Getty Images
YouTube on Tuesday announced its partnership with e-commerce platform Shopify to allow viewers to purchase products without leaving its website.
Shopify shares were up about 2.5% on the mid-morning news.
This means, for example, that someone watching a video on YouTube can see a list of items on the page that a creator thinks they might be interested in. If you watch a video on a tech YouTube channel, you may see gadgets that you can purchase directly from the page using Shopify. Or you might see makeup products on a beauty channel. Creators can manage the products included in the “Shopping” tab of YouTube Studio.
The entire transaction takes place while someone is watching a video, which could help YouTube retain viewers who would otherwise leave the site to purchase a product elsewhere. The company said it also plans to extend shopping features to its live, short and long-form videos.
YouTube said viewers in the United States, Brazil and India will see products they can buy in the Explore tab starting next week, with more countries to roll out later this year.
