Many brand operators share the appeal of their products or brand across multiple channels — a brand website, a blog, social media, and more. But as the number of outlets grows, so do the concerns: "unless every channel drives traffic back to the EC site, it won't lead to a purchase" and "the more transitions there are, the more likely people are to drop off."
Shopify's "Buy Button channel" is an official sales channel that lets you place a purchase button on your existing site or social media and sell products from Shopify. By using the Buy Button channel, customers can purchase a product directly from the page they're viewing, without having to move between channels.
This article organizes and explains how the Buy Button channel works, how to set it up, and how to make the most of it.
What Is the "Buy Button Channel"?
Image source: Buy Button channel | Shopify App Store
The Buy Button channel is one of Shopify's official sales channels. It lets you embed Shopify products in an external site or blog and sell them there.
Clicking the purchase button adds the product to the cart and takes the customer to the Shopify checkout page to complete payment. The distinguishing feature is that you can turn your own blog or brand site directly into an EC channel.
Main Features of the Buy Button Channel
Here are the main features and capabilities of the Buy Button channel.
You Can Place a Purchase Button for a Product or a Collection
With the Buy Button channel, you can generate a purchase button from your Shopify product data, either for an "individual product" or at the "collection" level.
You can add a sales path just by copying the generated code and pasting it as HTML into an external site.
What's appealing is the flexibility to place it wherever it fits — a landing page focused on a specific product, or a blog post introducing several products.
Use on External Sites, Blogs, and Social Media
A purchase button generated with the Buy Button channel can be placed anywhere that lets you embed HTML, such as WordPress. What's more, using a checkout link that takes visitors directly to checkout lets you drive traffic straight from a social media post or message to your Shopify checkout page. You can sell products to your existing readers and followers without relying solely on traffic to the Shopify store itself.
On a site built with WordPress, you can also display and sell products using the Shopify app "Sell on WordPress."
The article below explains how to integrate with WordPress, so check it out as well.
Customize the Button's Appearance and Behavior
With Buy Button, you can easily change the button's color, text, size, and layout. You can also choose whether, after clicking the button, it "adds the item to the cart" or "goes straight to the checkout page," letting you design a flow that fits your site's design and UX.
Setup Steps: Configuring the Buy Button Channel on Shopify
From here, we'll explain the steps to install the Buy Button channel and create a purchase button.
1. Install the App
Install "Buy Button channel" from the App Store.
Image source: Buy Button channel | Shopify App Store
After installation, "Buy Button" is added to your sales channels and the feature becomes available.
2. Customize the Purchase Button
Go to Sales channels > "Buy Button" and click "Create buy button."
Select the product or collection the button will target.
On the customization screen, you can specify the layout and the action for when the button is clicked.
Once you've finished customizing the purchase button, click "Copy code" from the screen where you enable the button, and you can copy the generated code. Just paste the copied code wherever you want the product to appear, and you're ready to sell. It can also be pasted into a site on a domain other than Shopify.
Note that the button and settings you create on the generation screen aren't saved — if you leave the page, you'll have to start over from scratch. Be sure to copy the code after customizing.
Purchase button placement example: Shopify blog
If you want to customize the purchase button in more detail, you can implement your own UI using the Shopify Buy SDK (a JavaScript library).
For example, you can do things like showing a hover-image effect on mouseover, or changing where the product name or description is displayed.
Default purchase button
Purchase button customized with an image hover effect
How to Check Conversions via the Purchase Button
Sales generated through the purchase button can be checked from the "Order management" and "Analytics" pages in the Shopify admin. Since the channel name is tallied as "Buy Button," you can compare it against other channels such as Online Store or POS.
However, purchase button code created directly from Buy Button can't append parameters to the redirect destination, so you can't attach parameters to the URL for conversion tracking purposes.
If you want to add parameters, click "Create checkout link" from the product detail page to create a checkout link.
Product management > Product detail page > More actions > select "Create checkout link"
(Checkout link with parameters attached: sample URL)
https://devdev-8886.myshopify.com/cart/43835546042391:1?channel=buy_button&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=product_promo&utm_content=buy_button
Points to Note About Buy Button
The Buy Button channel is a convenient feature that lets you place a purchase button on sites other than Shopify, but there are some limitations and points to keep in mind when using it.
Limits on Payment and Currency Support
The currencies and payment methods available with Buy Button are limited to what's configured in Shopify Payments. Some external payment methods or local payment options (such as cash on delivery) may not be available.
For details on which payment methods are available, check Shopify's official "Payment gateway services by country or region."
Online payment gateway services and payment service integrations | Shopify official
Can't Add Multiple Products to the Cart at Once
Buy Button has a limitation where you can't add multiple products to the cart in one go. Even if you place multiple purchase buttons on the same page, only one product can be purchased through the checkout page.
When placing purchase buttons in a blog or on a site, we recommend avoiding a layout that lines up several different products side by side.
Subscription Products Can't Be Created
You can't create a purchase button for a subscription product with the Buy Button channel. If you want a button for a subscription product, you'll need to combine it with a separate subscription app.
Practical Ways to Use Buy Button
Here, we introduce concrete ways to use a purchase button created with Buy Button.
Placing a Product Purchase Button on a Blog
If your blogging service lets you edit HTML, you can place a purchase button created with the Buy Button channel.
Below is an example of inserting the code for a purchase button created with Buy Button into a Hatena Blog post.
Purchase Button Placement Example (Hatena Blog)
Setting Up a Purchase Path on Social Media
For brands that already have a certain number of fans or followers, selling products directly through social media posts can be effective. In addition to the purchase button, Buy Button also lets you create checkout links that take visitors straight to the checkout page.
For example, adding a checkout link to a product featured in an Instagram post lets followers move straight to the purchase screen.
To set up a purchase path on social media, use "Create checkout link" from the product detail page to generate a checkout link.
Product management > Product detail page > More actions > select "Create checkout link"
Copying the checkout link
Unlike the purchase button, this can't display a product image, but selecting the checkout link takes the visitor to the checkout page with the product already added.
Transitioning to the checkout page with the product already added
By customizing the checkout link, you can also apply a discount coupon or specify Shop Pay as the payment method.
How This Differs from Sales Channel Catalog Integration
Shopify also offers a feature that lets you connect a product catalog with Facebook and Instagram to sell products directly on each social media platform. Once you connect a product catalog, you can sell products on social media without having to create a purchase button every time.
However, since setup requires certain steps such as linking a Meta account, using Buy Button is recommended if you want to get products live on social media right away.
Add More Purchase Paths with the Buy Button Channel
Shopify's Buy Button channel is a convenient feature that lets you use an external site or social media as a sales channel just by placing the code generated in the admin. Since you can add a purchase path to a channel you're already running, you can let customers view the product and complete a purchase within the same page.
On the other hand, it doesn't support granular conversion tracking, and fine-grained design adjustments require some coding knowledge. Buy Button is a great feature to reach for when you want to add a simple purchase path to a blog post or social media post.
