The Channel Dilemma Every Shopify Merchant Faces

As a Shopify merchant, you're presented with two powerful channels for showcasing your products and reviews: Shopify's Shop app and Google's Product Feeds (Google Merchant Center). Both promise increased visibility and sales, but they work in fundamentally different ways.

The question isn't just which one is "better" – it's understanding how each fits into your growth strategy and, crucially, how your product reviews perform on each platform.

Understanding Shopify Shop: The Walled Garden Approach

What Shop Does Well

Shop is Shopify's consumer-facing mobile app with over 100 million registered users. It creates a closed ecosystem where:

• Personalized Discovery: Shop surfaces product recommendations based on user behavior, purchase history, and followed stores
• Frictionless Checkout: Shop Pay enables one-tap purchasing across all Shopify stores
• Order Tracking: Centralized tracking for all Shopify purchases
• Re-engagement: Push notifications for sales, new arrivals, and back-in-stock items

The Review Reality in Shop

Shop's approach to reviews is optimized for conversion rather than discovery. While Shop displays star ratings on product pages, the platform's recommendation algorithm primarily relies on:

• Purchase behavior patterns
• Store follows and favorites
• Browsing history
• Shop Pay transaction data

Reviews play a strong role in conversion once a product is shown to shoppers who are already engaged with the platform. Shop excels at helping existing customers make confident purchase decisions.

Shop's Reach and User Base

Shop serves a substantial user base with over 100M registered users:

• Tens of millions of active monthly users
• Strong engagement for order tracking and Shop Pay checkout
• Built-in audience of Shopify shoppers
• Particularly effective for retention and repeat purchases

Google Product Feeds: The Open Marketplace

What Google Shopping Excels At

Google Product Feeds through Google Merchant Center (GMC) put your products where people actually search:

• Massive Discovery: Products appear in Google Search, Shopping tab, YouTube, and Display Network
• Intent-Based Traffic: Reaches customers actively searching for products like yours
• Review Integration: Product Ratings directly impact click-through rates and quality score
• Free & Paid Options: Both free listings and paid Shopping ads available

The Review Advantage on Google

Unlike Shop, Google Product Ratings have a direct, measurable impact on performance:

• Up to 10% CTR increase with star ratings displayed (based on Google data)
• Lower CPCs due to improved quality scores
• Trust signals that influence purchase decisions before clicking
• Broader visibility across Google's entire ecosystem

Important consideration: Google requires "retailer-owned" reviews for Product Ratings, which means you'll want to collect reviews directly through your own email/SMS campaigns to ensure compatibility with your GMC feed.

The Answer Engine Factor

Beyond traditional Google Search, product feeds now influence a new discovery channel: AI-powered answer engines. When shoppers ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for product recommendations, these platforms draw from structured data and reviews visible to search engines. Google's Product Feed schema helps both traditional search algorithms and AI chatbots understand and recommend your products. With over 400 million people using ChatGPT weekly, ensuring your products have proper structured data isn't just about SEO—it's about being discoverable to the next generation of product search.

The Numbers Game: Comparing Exposure

Let's put this in perspective with real metrics:

Shop App Exposure

• Potential Reach: Tens of millions of active monthly users
• Actual Product Views: Limited to app opens and browsing sessions
• Discovery Method: Algorithmic recommendations and search within app
• Competition: Only competing with other Shopify stores

Google Shopping Exposure

• Potential Reach: Over 8.5 billion Google searches daily in 2025
• Actual Product Views: Triggered by relevant search queries
• Discovery Method: Intent-based search and shopping behavior
• Competition: Competing with all e-commerce, including Amazon

Which Channel Should You Prioritize? A Decision Framework

Prioritize Google Product Feeds If:

You're Acquisition-Focused

• Most sales come from new customers
• You rely on paid advertising for growth
• Your products solve specific search queries
• You're in competitive categories where reviews matter

You Have Limited Resources

• Can only maintain one review collection strategy
• Need maximum ROI from review management
• Want reviews that work across multiple channels

Your Analytics Show

• High percentage of traffic from Google
• Strong Performance Max or Shopping campaign results
• Low repeat purchase rate

Prioritize Shop App If:

You're Retention-Focused

• High repeat purchase rate (>30%)
• Strong email list and customer loyalty
• Subscription or consumable products
• Established brand with followers

You've Maximized Basics

• Already optimized Google Shopping presence
• Have robust review collection via email/SMS
• Looking for incremental growth channels

Your Customers Love Convenience

• Sell to busy professionals
• Multiple purchases per customer
• Shop Pay adoption is high

A Practical Multi-Channel Approach

Here's a strategic approach that successful merchants use:

1. Foundation First: Google Product Feeds

• Set up Google Merchant Center
• Implement first-party review collection (email/SMS)
• Build your Product Ratings feed
• Optimize for Google Shopping visibility

2. Layer in Shop for Retention

• Enable Shop channel (it's free)
• Let Shop reviews supplement social proof
• Use Shop for re-engagement campaigns
• Leverage Shop Pay for conversion optimization

3. Maintain Separate Review Strategies

• For Google: Collect reviews via your own email/SMS campaigns (these are "retailer-owned")
• For Shop: Let the automatic Shop review requests handle repeat customers
• Bridge the gap: Display all reviews on your storefront for maximum social proof

The Hidden Challenge: Review Portability

Here's what most merchants don't realize until it's too late:

• Shop reviews ≠ GMC-eligible reviews
• Reviews collected through Shop are platform-locked
• Google requires direct control of review collection
• You need separate review strategies for each channel

This is where Review Multiplier becomes essential – ensuring every review you collect can be strategically distributed across all platforms, not trapped in one ecosystem.

Real-World Success Metrics

Based on merchant data across both channels:

Google Shopping with Product Ratings

• Up to 10% click-through rate increase with seller ratings displayed (based on Google data)
• Conversion value 28% higher for Shopping Ads versus text ads
• Reduced cost per acquisition with optimized feeds and quality scores

Shop App & Shop Pay Optimization

• 9% higher repurchase rate for Shop App users
• 15% higher average order value with Shop Pay versus other checkout methods
• Up to 50% conversion lift relative to guest checkout

The Bottom Line: Choose Based on Your Business Goals

The right approach depends on your merchant profile and growth stage:

For acquisition-focused merchants:

1. Start with Google Product Feeds – maximize discovery with intent-based traffic from both traditional search and AI answer engines
2. Build robust review collection that you own and control
3. Add Shop as a retention layer to boost repeat purchases

For retention-focused merchants:

1. Leverage Shop's built-in audience – engage existing customers where they shop
2. Use Google to supplement with new customer acquisition
3. Maintain separate strategies optimized for each platform's strengths

Optimizing for Both Search and Answer Engines

Whether you prioritize Shop or Google, remember that product discovery is evolving beyond traditional search. AI recommendations now influence 43% of purchase decisions, and shoppers increasingly ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for product recommendations before searching Google or browsing Shop.

The winning formula isn't choosing between Shop and Google – it's understanding how each serves different parts of your customer journey while ensuring your products and reviews are discoverable across all channels, including emerging AI-powered answer engines.

Take Action: Multiply Your Review Impact

Stop letting platform limitations dictate your review strategy. Whether you're focused on Shop, Google, or both, ensure every review works harder for your business:

• Collect once, distribute everywhere: Your reviews should work across all channels
• Own your review data: Don't let platforms lock in your social proof
• Track what works: Measure review impact on each channel separately
• Optimize continuously: Test review display, timing, and incentives

The merchants winning today aren't picking sides – they're building omnichannel review strategies that turn every piece of customer feedback into growth fuel, regardless of where customers discover them.

Ready to make your reviews work across every platform? That's exactly what Review Multiplier was built to solve. Get started free with our Free plan (no credit card required), or choose Starter ($12/month) or Pro ($25/month) to unlock advanced features. Watch your reviews multiply across Shop, Google, and beyond.