YouTube is broadening its partnership with Shopify, allowing more merchants to participate in the platform’s Shopping affiliate program. 

The expansion enables eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the United States to join the program through the Google & YouTube app on Shopify.

“In 2023, people watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on YouTube, helping connect shopping creators and their fans deeper, easier, and more fulfilling,” YouTube said in a blog post. 

According to the company, this surge in shopping content consumption has led to stronger connections between creators and their audiences.

What the Partnership Means for Creators and Brands

Under the expanded partnership, U.S. brands can now enable thousands of eligible creators to showcase their products in videos at scale. Merchants can manage the program and view analytics, content, and products directly from Google Merchant Center.

For creators, this expansion means access to thousands of new brands for tagging in shopping content across YouTube. 

Brands such as BK Beauty, Popflex, HexClad, and GoPure Beauty are already participating in the program.

In addition to expanding the Shopify partnership, YouTube is introducing a new Chrome extension for U.S. creators in the Shopping affiliate program. 

This tool allows creators to save products while browsing a brand or retailer’s site, facilitating easier tagging in Studio later. The extension also provides information on potential earnings from tagging specific products in YouTube videos.

Taking on TikTok Shop

YouTube’s expanded partnership with Shopify comes as TikTok Shop eyes to grow its U.S. business to $17.5 billion this year. 

TikTok is newer to the American e-commerce space than YouTube, but the company has been onboarding merchants relatively quickly. 

In April, TikTok reported having 500,000 merchants in the U.S. on TikTok Shop by the end of 2023.

Moreover, Amazon recently partnered with TikTok to enable in-app shopping, allowing users to purchase items from Amazon advertisements without leaving the video platform.

On the other hand, a recent report revealed that YouTube Ads drive 2X more purchases than TV, significantly influencing parents’ purchasing decisions with children aged 2-12 in the U.S.