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Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it’s working with Shopify Inc. to let more merchants sell across the search giant’s properties and beef up its e-commerce business. The news, announced Tuesday during Google’s I/O software developer conference, sent Shopify shares up more than 5 percent.
With the new integration, Google said Shopify’s 1.7 million merchants can more easily list items where Google sells — its Shopping site, as well as other properties such as Maps and YouTube. “With just a few clicks, these retailers can sign up to appear across Google’s 1 billion shopping journeys each day,” said Bill Ready, Google’s president of commerce.
Last summer, Google eliminated fees for retailers on its shopping service as a way to lure merchants from bigger rival Amazon.com Inc. The company has since seen an 80 percent jump in merchants, a “vast majority” of whom are small businesses, Ready said.
Investors are primed for Google to build out its commerce business after several years of middling efforts. On Tuesday, Google also introduced more features like online shopping carts in Chrome and merchant loyalty programs linked directly in Google accounts.
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Shopify, Canada’s largest company, offers a variety of services for businesses on its e-commerce platform.
By Nico Grant and Mark Bergen.