With over 122 million daily active users, there鈥檚 no doubt that YouTube 鈥� and the integrated YouTube Shopping platform 鈥� is an effective way to share your ecommerce products with the world. More than were watched on YouTube in 2023, and that鈥檚 just one of many reasons why ecommerce businesses are tapping into YouTube Shopping and other social commerce platforms to promote products, increase brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales.
This article will introduce you to YouTube Shopping, the lesser-known, but potentially lucrative sales channel, and explain how you can use it to benefit your ecommerce business in 2024.
What Is YouTube Shopping?
YouTube Shopping is a feature on the popular video-sharing platform that allows viewers to discover products and make purchases directly from videos, YouTube Shorts, and live streams. Direct-to-consumer ecommerce companies use these product promotion and linking tools to drive audiences to make a purchase on their main online store.
This integrated experience, known as social commerce, is a relatively new but incredibly successful approach to ecommerce. It extends brands鈥� reach online while seizing opportunities to sell to audiences who are already consuming content related to specific products, like skincare, nutrition, and fashion videos. Collaborations with influential creators who share a similar audience can also help build authority both on and off of YouTube.
Introduced in 2022, YouTube Shopping follows in the footsteps of other popular social commerce programs launched over recent years, like Facebook Shop, Instagram Shop, and TikTok Shop.
This specific platform differs from the rest in that it has specific requirements for anyone who wants a native check-out process. Instant, in-app purchases are available in the United States, Canada, and other major markets if merchants use Shopify Payments. Set up involves additional configuration in the Shopify Admin panel.
Businesses must also:
- Have at least 1,000 YouTube subscribers
- Be approved for YouTube channel monetization features
- Connect using an email matching a staff account with full back-end permissions on Shopify
Otherwise, YouTube Shopping simply acts as a facilitator of sales. It shows audiences relevant products but requires them to leave YouTube for the business鈥� ecommerce store to complete actual transactions.
However, even in the absence of an in-app checkout process, YouTube Shopping is still incredibly valuable to all ecommerce sellers. It's common for casual viewers to discover products that interest them in videos and not take action. The additional steps of writing the brand鈥檚 name down or opening Google to search for specific products is burdensome.
In most cases, consumers don鈥檛 end up remembering or following up on that potential purchase, which is a missed opportunity to turn that viewer into an actual customer. When product links and descriptions are integrated into the video, Short, or live stream, that barrier is suddenly removed. The viewer has an easy way to learn more about and ultimately buy the product without having to do any extra work on their own.
How Does YouTube Shopping Work for Ecommerce Sellers?
YouTube Shopping is an exciting idea for both consumers and businesses. On one side, everyday internet users gain the ability to discover and purchase products in a way they haven鈥檛 experienced before; products that are directly related to the content they鈥檙e already organically engaging with. Meanwhile, ecommerce businesses have an entirely new channel on which they can promote their collection of products.
Among many other things, YouTube Shopping allows brands to:
Set Up an Official Store on the YouTube Platform
YouTube Shopping extends the functionality of traditional YouTube channel pages with ecommerce features. Businesses can add a storefront to their YouTube channel and use it to showcase merchandise like apparel, accessories, beauty products, personal care items, and more.
YouTube Shopping is unique from other social commerce platforms in that it permits connections with more than one store at the same time. Products are automatically pulled from each website and combined within the 鈥楽tore鈥� tab. Items can then be added, removed, and organized into separate collections as necessary. This is great for companies that offer products under multiple brand names.
Criteria to Sell on YouTube
Only members of the can set up their own store on YouTube Shopping.
Criteria to qualify for YouTube Shopping include:
- A subscriber count of 1,000 or more
- At least 4,000 valid public watch hours from full-length YouTube videos within the previous 12 months
Sellers are expected to follow when using YouTube Shopping, including the platform鈥檚 monetization policies, community guidelines, paid product placements and endorsement policy, and prohibited content policy.
Once part of the program, businesses can enroll to begin selling on YouTube Shopping through YouTube Studio. We鈥檒l explain the process of connecting your online store later on.
Showcase Products Through Different Types of Content
Businesses can draw users to their external ecommerce store from multiple locations on YouTube, including video descriptions, product shelves, shopping buttons, product tags, and paid ads. This creates many different opportunities and avenues to organically capture the attention of potential consumers as they interact with content on YouTube.
The product tagging feature currently works with videos, Shorts, and live streams. But with a shoppable video and channel, customers always have a quick way to view all of the items in a catalog and initiate a purchase. Those without in-app checkout enabled can easily direct audiences to the Store tab via URL in comments, descriptions, and Community posts. This link can be shared off YouTube Shopping as well, on social media platforms and website content.
Product Shelves create the opportunity to passively promote products through videos that aren鈥檛 made to feature specific items. YouTube automatically selects a series of products to include below the content by considering factors like popularity, price, and availability, much like the 鈥渟imilar鈥� or 鈥渞elated鈥� product recommendations sections on traditional ecommerce sites. The items displayed on a Product Shelf can also be changed via store settings.
Beyond your own content, YouTube also offers the opportunity to display products alongside other channels鈥� videos with paid shopping ads, or "". These work similarly to product tags and shelves; paid placements display at least four product images that, when expanded and clicked on, route users to the advertising business鈥� target page. This is a great opportunity for immediate exposure with a smaller organic following. According to , businesses that add products to these campaigns see 60% more conversions at a lower cost.
Video action campaigns pull product data from Google Merchant Center while the ads themselves are set up and managed through Google Ads. You can couple these promotions alongside other paid placements in pursuit of sales, leads, website traffic, product and brand consideration, or brand awareness and reach.
Review Data In YouTube Analytics
The offerings of YouTube Shopping aren't limited to increased exposure. Robust analytics tools allow businesses to view real-time data on both engagement and sales revenue earned through YouTube Shopping on connected ecommerce platforms.
The main reporting features all channels get access to like metrics like number of views, impressions, audience demographics, and channel traffic sources can help you discover trends that can inform your overall online presence. For example, high mobile viewership rates indicate people are likely watching videos through their smartphones. If that鈥檚 the case, your website should be mobile responsive. Audience data can also guide future videos and sales campaigns.
Access Ecommerce-Specific Data
Advanced Mode expands individual reports in the Analytics wing of YouTube Studio. Use this to get a more comprehensive breakdown of sales data, including number of orders, product clicks, top-earning content, and product tagging revenue. With an understanding of which practices and videos are performing best and why, it will become much easier to refine your YouTube Shopping strategy for success.
Collaborate With High-Profile Creators
YouTube鈥檚 community of content creators is one of the largest in the world, comprising more than . There鈥檚 a channel for every industry and niche, too.
Businesses can tap into the audience size and influence of these accounts to broaden their reach, increase brand awareness, and drive product sales both on and off YouTube Shopping.
Businesses don鈥檛 need to meet any additional requirements to partner with influential creators on the platform. However, both brands and independent content creators are expected to adhere to community guidelines at all times. The question is simply whether to arrange partnerships organically or through the YouTube Partner Program, explained in more detail in the next section.
Take Part In the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program
Direct relationships have no limitations beyond the aforementioned community guidelines. A business can collaborate with any YouTube creator they want, irrespective of location or audience size. But extra work is required to find viable candidates, directly negotiate contracts, and manage the payment of commission.
The YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program aims to solve this problem by matching participating brands with influential creators that share a similar target audience. Shopping creators must have more than 15,000 subscribers and be based in the United States in order to qualify, which is great for brands that don鈥檛 want to spend time searching for influencers who are interested in and have a large enough following for partnership opportunities.
Partnerships through this program enjoy the exclusive ability to cross-promote products with sponsored tags in videos, YouTube Short videos, and live streams, as shown in the example below.
Affiliate creators earn commission for each product they sell with product tags and features. Brands set their own flat or multi-tiered commission rate offers, which are usually between 5% and 20% of a product鈥檚 purchase price.
YouTube鈥檚 sellers list comprises many well-known names, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Rare Beauty, and West Elm. But it鈥檚 not limited by size 鈥� any ecommerce business can apply to become an official affiliate retailer using . participating in the YouTube Shopping Affiliate program comes with many benefits, including increased exposure to and authority with an expanded audience.
Dr. Shirene Idriss鈥� Spring Skincare Cheat Sheet video offers a great example of what YouTube Shopping Affiliate content looks like in real life. Every viewer who watches this video is given an easy way to learn more about the products shown, which can lead to purchases and further exploration of the main retailer鈥檚 YouTube channel or website.
How to Get Started With YouTube Shopping
YouTube Shopping's familiar interface makes getting started easy. All you鈥檒l need is an existing ecommerce store and an eligible YouTube channel.
Connect Your Store to the YouTube Shopping Platform
YouTube Shopping storefronts aren鈥檛 stand-alone 鈥� you鈥檒l need to already have an online store hosted on an ecommerce platform like Shopify. Product information from your website is integrated with YouTube Shopping, so your inventory count and product availability remain accurate across sales channels. When customers place an order on your website, the information will automatically sync with YouTube, your order management system, Shopify fulfillment integration, and any other tools connected to your ecommerce site.
Connect a store by logging into YouTube Studio using a desktop or laptop computer. Eligible channels have a tab titled 鈥楽hopping鈥� under 鈥楨arn鈥� in the left-hand menu. Click 鈥楪et Started鈥� and follow the on-screen instructions to link your ecommerce site.
YouTube Shopping currently supports linking with four ecommerce platforms in the United States:
- FourthWall
- Shopify
- Spreadshop
- Spring (formerly Teespring)
Curate Your YouTube Shop With Product Collections
After connecting your store, you鈥檒l have the option to edit and customize your YouTube channel鈥檚 storefront. Products are organized as 鈥楥ollections,鈥� which can hold up to 30 different items at once.
Setting up a Product Collection currently only works on the YouTube Studio mobile app. You鈥檒l want to take time when creating Collections, however, as organization has a big influence on customers鈥� shopping experience. Segmenting products by series, price, or features makes it easier for people to find what they鈥檙e looking for. You can also create collections to promote select items as they go on sale or come into season.
How to Create a Collection In YouTube Shopping
Create a new collection by clicking 鈥楨arn鈥� in the bottom menu, then 鈥楥ollections,鈥� and finally 鈥楥reate鈥�. From there, you鈥檒l be asked to title this new collection and upload a cover photo.
Products can be added by tapping the 鈥榩lus鈥� icon and moved by tapping and holding the icon with two horizontal lines. Be mindful of order as it is how products will be shown to users. With a minimum of three items selected, accompanied by cover photos and descriptions, hit 鈥楶ublish鈥� to take the collection live.
What You Need to Know Before Getting Started With YouTube Shopping
The time and effort you put towards YouTube Shopping should be used strategically. Keeping these things in mind will help ensure no second or dollar goes to waste:
Success With YouTube Shopping Takes Work
YouTube isn鈥檛 unique in the sense that success with it takes work. This goes for both regular content and ecommerce sales. You鈥檒l need to be consistent with publishing videos, promoting products, and engaging subscribers. Answering questions about products in the comment section is just one way of building credibility and encouraging people to make a purchase. Your actual YouTube Shopping content should be engaging as well 鈥� polished and concise to grab potential buyers' attention. Tools like a can help cut down unnecessary time both in the editing process and final clip.
Strategic planning can also go far when attractively presenting your brand to online audiences. Take the time to work out a consistent upload schedule, and establish visual standards to keep your storefront aesthetically pleasing. Many best practices for ecommerce product listings also apply to YouTube Shopping 鈥� high-resolution images, simple backgrounds, and detailed product descriptions can all contribute to successfully generating sales.
An optimized checkout process is also important. Because YouTube Shopping doesn鈥檛 have in-app checkout, users will be redirected to your ecommerce site to complete their purchase. Cart abandonment is still possible. Unnecessary form fields, confusing cost breakdowns, and unclear shipping policies can all impede your YouTube Shopping efforts.
You'll Need to Establish a YouTube Order Fulfillment Solution
In its official policy, Google states that YouTube Shopping is a platform meant to help businesses capture sales opportunities. It doesn鈥檛 have any systems in place for actual ecommerce order management. This means that you will still have the responsibility of arranging warehousing, ecommerce fulfillment, inventory management, and reverse logistics.
Partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider that has experience integrating with social commerce platforms, like TikTok Shop fulfillment, can help you seamlessly establish your YouTube Shopping store without all the overhead.
Unlock YouTube Shopping Success with 少女福利
Social commerce platforms like YouTube Shopping can benefit your business greatly through increased exposure and sales. However, it鈥檚 important to have a good fulfillment system in place to handle all the demand that these channels generate. A top-rated 3PL like 少女福利 can put this aspect of running an ecommerce business on autopilot for you.
Take advantage of our Shopify integration, real-time inventory updates, and dedicated Account Managers by contacting a member of sales today.
