Google Expands Partnership with Shopify as Part of “Mission to Democratize E-Commerce”

Google is expanding its partnership with Shopify, offering a new feature that will enable Shopify’s merchants to highlight products across Google properties.

Consumers will be able to discover these products through Google Search as well as Google Shopping, YouTube, Google Images and more, the company said.

Google made the announcement during its developer conference, Google I/O 2021.

While it provided few details about the expanded relationship with Shopify, Google said in a blog post that a “new, simplified process” would allow Shopify merchants to promote their products “in just a few clicks.”

The tech giant said it was partnering with Shopify specifically because, “(t)o help more merchants get discovered, it’s important that we support like-minded partners who share in Google’s mission to democratize e-commerce.”

The feature would be available to all of the 1.7 million merchants using the Shopify platform, it said.

Google announced the Shopify partnership alongside other platform enhancements to help consumers research and find products online.

For example, the company announced that users viewing a screenshot in Google Photos would be offered the ability to search the image with Google Lens. The feature would show search results matching products within that photo. Google is also adding shopping cart reminders to its Chrome browser so users with incomplete shopping sessions can pick up where they left off.

Earlier this month, PF Lightspeed introduced a partnership with Google that would enable its retailers to access Google tools to help manage their online presence. The feature would allow merchants to promote their in-stock products through local inventory ads, among other capabilities.

According to CNBC, Shopify’s stock closed up more than 3% following Google’s announcement.