How Shopify is leading the charge in social commerce

Shopify embraces social commerce 

Back in 2021, the worldwide social commerce market was estimated to be worth $492 billion; by 2025, that number is predicted to almost treble. 

And, since the next generation whose wallets are of great industry interest is Gen-Z - digital natives who can’t imagine their lives without social media, influencers, live streams, who also value personalization when it comes to their CX - the niche is undeniably worth fighting for.

Shopify took action. As the company's main premise is to make its platform as easy to use as possible for people whose primary goal is to sell products rather than develop technology, the main focus was on how to place a Shopify buy button wherever it can be placed. 

The following are the domains where Shopify is testing the waters:

• Social commerce 
• Influencer marketing
• Live commerce / Live shopping
• Tokengated commerce / NFT  

Shopify expands social commerce integrations  

Shopify & Tiktok

Did you know that one Tiktok live shopping event may bring in more money for the brand than the flagship brick-and-mortar store does in an entire week? 

Shopify had a partnership with Tiktok resulting in significant simplifications when it comes to selling products via the viral social media platform. TikTok users can now easily make their content (videos) shoppable, adding customizable buttons. 

On other hand, to promote their goods and expand their customer base, Shopify sellers can set up a somewhat storefront on TikTok, adding "Shop Now" buttons, product catalogs, and For You page-specific advertisements are a part of the integration. 

Both systems allow users to synchronize stock and sales information.

The integration was established so that Shopify merchants may enhance their sales via social shopping and profit from the large number of active users that TikTok has. 

Shopify & Meta (Facebook, Instagram)

As of late 2022, Instagram, which is owned by Meta, has 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, while Facebook has around 2.96 billion monthly active users worldwide as of early 2023. 

Which is a fantastic number of consumers who at least sometimes need to spend their money. And, obviously, Shopify with their buy button has to be there as well.

Connecting a Shopify store's stock with an Instagram profile simplifies the buying and selling processes for both shopifiers and instagramers. 

Instagram may be used as a traffic engine for a Shopify store by inserting product tags in photographs and making posts and stories shoppable. Furthermore, online merchants can track their traffic, sales, and more using Shopify Analytics, and target their Instagram advertising to specific demographics with Shopify's audiences feature. 

As a bonus, Instagram now features in-app checkout, so users can buy things without leaving the app. By integrating Shop Pay, stores can streamline the buying process and boost sales. 

Shops on Facebook, in their turn, may be made to resemble Shopify stores, complete with a collection-based inventory management system that streamlines the shopping experience for the end user. 

Thus, enterprises who reside on Shopify may deliver an omnichannel consumer experience by designing a specialized shopping environment accessible through Instagram and Facebook.

Shopify & Youtube 

Youtube is the new television: 57% of online viewing is now carried out via YouTube. 

Youtubers and vloggers are setting new rules of broadcasting. Live commerce, live shopping, influenced marketing wouldn’t be so trendy if not for one platform - Youtube. 

Shopify collaborated with Youtube to allow online retailers to promote their products on YouTube and add product tags to videos without having to leave the video editing platform. 

Merchants using Shopify can sync their YouTube channel automatically with any changes made to their Shopify store, including new product names, images, pricing, and stock availability. 

Brands may create real-time buying environments by pinning or tagging products in their live broadcasts. Viewers may do other things while the video remains playing in a smaller window.

Youtube viewers may buy the products directly from the app by clicking on the tags. Also, the integration makes it simple to monitor any and all sales channels, including those on YouTube, in addition to overall performance indicators.

Shopify & Google

Despite Chat GPT's challenges to Google's dominance as the all-powerful information desk, where everything can be found, people still seek out things and products via Google.

Shopify's automatic syncing with Google Shopping made it easy for online retailers to have their products shown in Google's marketplace. This implies Shopify users can make adjustments to their stock without hassle. 

Advertising across Google's many platforms, including Search, Shopping, Images, Lens, and YouTube, allows businesses to reach consumers no matter where they are shopping for products similar to theirs.

Moreover, Shopify makes it simple for companies to create advertisements, manage a budget, and use automation tools like Performance Max to do the rest of the work for them. 

By combining Shopify with Google, online stores can increase their advertising capacities manifold and convert those who just-browsing into buyers.

Shopify & Twitter

Shopify and Twitter partnership has led to the creation of Twitter Shop. 

Users may now buy things shown on Twitter from the merchants themselves. The function incorporates "Buy on Twitter" buttons, a store tab on merchant profiles, and the Shopify ecommerce platform. The goal of this new tool is to streamline the Twitter buying process and help more businesses connect with consumers. 

Using the Twitter Shopping app, sellers can link directly to the Shopify product page from tweets about things that can be bought. Also, Shopify and Twitter have joined forces so that sellers can increase sales by using Twitter's advertising tool to reach their target groups and send people to their Shopify businesses.

Shopify & Pinterest

Shopify + Pinterest collaboration made it now simple for businesses to share their product catalogs on Pinterest in the form of shoppable Product Pins. Pinterest users will be able to browse for and make purchases from merchants without ever having to leave the platform. 

A number of cutting-edge additions to the relationship include tag installation and tracking, conversion reporting, etc. The impact is increased traffic and revenues, more brand awareness, and a more streamlined shopping experience for customers.

Shopify & NFT

Not the most obvious sales channel, NFT has been around for quite some time, exciting the fevered imagination of crypto lovers.

Shopify now allows its customers to leverage tockengated commerce, “unlocking the power of their brand community”.

Shopify's compatibility with NFT (non-fungible token) distribution applications paves the way for businesses to bypass any in-between software or services and sell NFTs straight inside the Shopify interface. 

For clearance to sell NFTs through Shopify Payments, merchants may integrate one of Shopify's NFT distribution app partners onto their shop. If they pass Shopify's approval process, retailers may list and sell their own unique NFTs built on popular blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow. 

Shopify makes it easier for merchants to tap into social commerce

Linkpop

To make it easy for merchants to tap into social commerce, Shopify developed Linkpop.

Shopify's Linkpop is a flexible link-in-bio solution that lets retailers set up a shoppable landing page that customers can reach via social networking applications. By including a link in their bio that goes straight to the Shopify checkout, it aids vendors in creating an easy-to-use storefront for their products. 

With the help of Linkpop's range of tools, after creating a custom link-in-bio page, online retailers can track social media traffic and conversions. 

The purpose of Linkpop is to facilitate direct sales and customer base expansion for companies via the usage of their social media accounts. Merchants have already praised it as a straightforward and fruitful channel through which to advertise and sell their goods online. 

Shopify collabs

On top of all those partnerships with top social media platforms, Shopify acquired Dovetale - the service to hunt influencers.  

Now online retailers using Shopify can leverage influencer marketing at full pace. Brands have at their disposal powerful tools for searching, analyzing, and classifying influencers and ambassadors. With automatic tracking, collaboration tools, and a content library, the process of establishing and maintaining influencer campaigns becomes easier. 

There are also tools available for finding and communicating with potential advocates for a brand, along with tools for monitoring their progress and rewarding them. Moreover, lists of social media profiles can be created, edited, and shared with tags to help classify them easily.

Also, a scalable platform is provided for gathering and analyzing client feedback. 

Bottom line: Shopify as social commerce trendsetter

Shopify is efficiently expanding and conquering new peaks (platforms) where they install little flags - their buy buttons.

As Glen Coates, Shopify’s VP Product, once put it: “We will go wherever the world of commerce goes. We want Shopify to be a big easy button.”

And Grinteq would be happy to help you implement or upgrade your Shopify store. Check our services to get any help with Shopify development.