Recently, Microsoft announced the finalisation of its Shopify integration into Bing Shopping and Bing Search.
The tech giant expressed its satisfaction in a media release on 21 December 2021, in which it stated: “we’re excited to share that the experiences are live”, and further went on to say the integration of Shopify empowers Bing to exhibit a larger and more comprehensive range of products, attractive prices and an improved online shopping browsing experience.
Plans to fuse Microsoft Bing and Shopify were announced in October 2021.
Shopify is an e-commerce company and provides a software platform that allows companies to develop and set up online shops.
Microsoft said that one of the goals of the partnership was to enable online merchants to grow their businesses.
The multinational technology corporation further stated that it identified the need for the partnership due to an increase in online shopping activities and emphasised that it is important to connect companies and their brands with the virtual shopping community.
This live integration features content in Bing Product Ads, listings on the Bing Shopping tab and visibility on the Microsoft Start Shopping tab.
Microsoft also indicated that Shopify stores and shoppers will have access to Bing’s Buy Now feature, which instantly transfers online shoppers to the applicable shopping cart page.
The latest statistics show that Shopify has a market capitalisation of $171.85bn as of December 2021.
Content marketing experts regard this announcement and the market impact of these two prominent global role players in digitisation as an opportunity to showcase brand content.
These professionals see this integration and the associated updates on the Microsoft Channel app as yet another way to aid small businesses, retailers and e-commerce companies to find a footing or improve their footprints in the digital e-commerce arena.
They stated that this is especially important in light of the impact of COVID-19, which has forced many land-based companies to explore digital means of doing business and the fact that many of these companies turned to Shopify to establish online shops.
Analyses indicate that this integration comes a bit late for the 2021 Christmas shopping season but does present a good opportunity for launching fresh content for the coming year.
In January 2021, Forbes, a global media company highlighting business, technology and investment ventures, among others, reiterated this notion in an article on Shopify’s significance in the global e-commerce sphere.
This article detailed how Shopify aims to develop a democratic e-commerce environment that incorporates the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, where they are not overshadowed by retailers such as Amazon and eBay.
Forbes further asserted that Shopify reflects the continuing move to online shopping and how it reported a 71% increase in the establishment of online shops since April 2020.
Marketing professionals believe this shift is permanent and that Shopify presents an opportunity to not only establish but also grow an online presence to connect with customers.
In light of these shifts and findings, experts in the industry recommend that small- and medium-sized companies liaise with professional content developers to gain a visual and prominent footing in e-commerce.
