Shopify will soon be adding new native ad-buying functions for Facebook and Snapchat, as it looks to make it easier for merchants to access marketing campaigns through their online stores.
Shopify is hoping to make ad buying and content creation as easy and simple as possible.
As of today Shopify’s online merchants now have the ability to create Facebook dynamic ads, and over the next few weeks, the company is also rolling out Story Ads on Snapchat. This expands Shopify’s existing marketing integrations, which include carousel ads on Facebook and Google Smart shopping campaigns.
The new marketing section was originally launched in October, with the tech giant stating it understands that marketing is extremely important to direct-to-customer brands. Shopify noted that it wanted to make it easier for those merchants to access marketing, therefore decided to centralize marketing integrations. It made the integrations available to access alongside online store, inventory, and sales management.
Along with new features for its online customers, Shopify is also putting emphasis on brick-and-mortar retailers. Last week, the company finally launched its Tap & Chip Reader, allowing in-store retailers to service payments quickly and securely, through payment-enabled phones, as well as debit and credit cards. The announcement marked the first launch of the Reader since it was originally announced in early 2018. It was made available to merchants along with a retail kit, that includes a Dock for the reader, and retail Stand for iPads.
While still primarily an ecommerce company, Shopify has been expanding its in-store retail offerings over the past few years.
“We want to make sure that we take all of the years of work we’ve been doing for [Shopify Plus] customers and make sure we deliver it to them in a way that makes sense and helps them with their unique problems. Shopify Plus did that for the enterprise and Shopify Retail will do that for the physical region,” Satish Kanwar, VP of product at Shopify, told BetaKit earlier this year.
He noted that often, Shopify’s customers are not one specific type, with some brick-and-mortar retailers moving online and vice versa. He said the Ottawa-based company is looking to meet its customers at whatever point they interact with Shopify, looking to create a cohesive experience between online and in-store features.
In terms of today’s announcement, Shopify noted that when it comes to its online businesses it “know[s] that marketing is extremely important” and is hoping to make ad buying and content creation as easy and simple as possible. Shopify also expressed that more features for its new marketing section will become available later this year.