YouTube takes on TikTok Shop with expanded Shopify partnership | TechCrunch

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the expansion of YouTube's partnership with Shopify to onboard more brands for its YouTube Shopping affiliate program, as TikTok Shop gains traction. The key points are:

• YouTube is expanding its partnership with Shopify to give creators access to thousands of new brands to tag in their shopping videos, a significant increase from the few hundred brands they currently have access to.
• This expanded partnership will allow YouTube to better compete with TikTok, which is reportedly aiming to grow its TikTok Shop U.S. business tenfold to $17.5 billion this year.
• YouTube is also launching a new Chrome extension to help creators in the affiliate program save products while browsing a brand or retailer's site to quickly find them when they're ready to tag them in a video.
• The expansion of the affiliate program is part of YouTube's efforts to bring in more revenue amid a slowdown in digital advertising, as the platform has seen a 25% increase in watch time for videos that help people shop.

🙋 Q&A

[01] YouTube's Partnership Expansion with Shopify

1. What are the key details of YouTube's expanded partnership with Shopify?

• All eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. can now sign up for the YouTube Shopping affiliate program.
• This gives creators access to thousands of new brands to tag in their shopping videos, a significant increase from the few hundred brands they currently have access to.

2. How does this expansion help YouTube compete with TikTok?

• The expanded partnership allows YouTube to be better positioned to take on TikTok, which is reportedly aiming to grow its TikTok Shop U.S. business tenfold to $17.5 billion this year.
• TikTok has been onboarding merchants at a relatively fast pace, with 500,000 merchants in the U.S. on TikTok Shop by the end of 2023.

3. What new feature is YouTube launching to support its affiliate program?

• YouTube is launching a new Chrome extension that will allow creators in the U.S. who are part of the affiliate program to save products while browsing a brand or retailer's site in order to quickly find them when they're ready to tag them in a video.

[02] YouTube's E-commerce Efforts

1. Why is YouTube expanding its e-commerce efforts?

• YouTube has ramped up its e-commerce efforts over the past few years as a way to bring in more revenue amid a slowdown in digital advertising.

2. What evidence suggests YouTube's e-commerce efforts are working?

• YouTube previously announced that people watched more than 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on YouTube in 2023, and that the platform saw a 25% increase in watch time for videos that help people shop.

3. How does the affiliate program benefit creators?

• The affiliate program is beneficial for creators who want to earn more money through the platform, which is why YouTube recently launched new Shopping features to help creators better market products and grow their earnings.