Can Shopify make the ‘Buy’ button a thing?

There’s a prevailing idea within e-commerce circles that what customers really want is to buy things in more places. Shopify has doubled down on this theory with an update today that allows vendors to sell their goods in more places than ever before.

Announced at the company’s developer conference, Shopify now connects with Houzz, Wanelo and Ebates, with many more appearing soon.

“As the number of channels grows, people will be adopting them more and more,” Satish Kanwar, Director of Product at Shopify, told TNW. “We’re consolidating the Shopify where people access channels, and through the SDK we’ve made it possible for them to design the look and feel of channels.”

Kanwar also sees bringing e-commerce to apps as a way to future-proof Shopify: currently 61 percent of traffic comes from mobile, so these new channel integrations are a way to cut obstacles to the check-out. In short, if you don’t have to leave the app you’re in, you’ll probably be happier if you can buy direct.

“We’re going to accelerate the inevitable and make it really really easy to use a phone to buy products,” he added.

Shopify’s move, based on prevailing logic, does seem prudent — many competitors are also trying to get into the same business, not to mention the likes of Pinterest and Facebook. But despite the clamoring to provide, it’s unclear whether the buy button is, well, paying off.

Is Shopify one step ahead of its customer, or too many steps ahead? Either way, it’s ready.

➤ Shopify