According to Bloomberg, Google is taking on Amazon’s e-commerce business with a grand debut in the online shopping space. After launching Shoploop, a TikTok-style influencer marketing and video commerce platform, Google is readying YouTube to emerge as the new king of the e-commerce industry. This way, Google is looking to compete with Amazon and various other established companies that sell stuff online.
YouTube-Shopify integration imminent
Google is currently testing with Shopify to integrate its proprietary e-commerce platform into YouTube. Although Google’s business model remains unclear, certain creators have been approached by YouTube, being asked to track products for the e-commerce catalog.
YouTube turning video streaming into online shopping
YouTube is the destination for watching product reviews. Let’s say you are looking to purchase a laptop get or some beauty product. In that case, you would normally watch video reviews on YouTube to make informed purchase decisions on Amazon or other websites. Google sees this as an opportunity to keep users engaged with YouTube.
Well, don’t be surprised if you can purchase products that you see in YouTube videos without leaving YouTube in the future. Because that’s exactly what YouTube is perhaps trying to achieve here, courtesy of its partnership with Shopify.
Google…inspired by Facebook
With this e-commerce strategy, YouTube is not doing anything unique or extraordinary here. Instagram has been following this e-commerce business model for months, courtesy of Instagram Shopping, which allows brands to feature their products with the help of posts and Stories. People can also discover your products in the Explore tab and buy them directly from Instagram.
Content platforms trying to get into the e-commerce business shouldn’t surprise us anymore. E-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon are also actively trying to have their presence felt in the content business for quite some time now, and the Internet is only making it possible for both industries to go hand in hand.
In related news, Google will soon offer Snapchat-style web stories in Search. These stories will disappear after 24 hours.
