YouTube goes all in on live shopping

YouTube is expanding its live shopping feature, joining other platforms in investing in livestream e-commerce amid mixed results.

YouTube is expanding its live shopping feature, joining other platforms in investing in livestream e-commerce amid mixed results.

The video platform announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Shopify, an e-commerce platform, to launch integrated livestream shopping, a feature that TikTok recently reportedly dropped expansion plans for after it failed to gain traction with consumers.

Live shopping events are like modernized QVC programs, and enable viewers to buy products directly from creator-hosted streamed events.

The Shopify partnership will allow eligible YouTube creators to directly connect their Shopify stores to their profiles, which syncs inventory and enables onsite checkout “so that viewers can complete their purchases without leaving YouTube,” YouTube said in its blog announcing the news.

The expanded shopping features also allows eligible creators — who must have a monetized channel, based in a country where the YouTube Partner Program is available and whose content is not marked “Made for Kids” — to tag their products in livestreams, so that viewers can make purchases without the site. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/youtube-live-shopping-shopify-tiktok-rcna38762

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