What Is Shopify’s Buy Now Button and How to Use It
The Shopify Buy Button is a lightweight embeddable widget that lets you sell products from your Shopify store anywhere on the web — a WordPress blog, a Squarespace website, a Wix landing page, an email newsletter, or any HTML page. Instead of sending visitors to your Shopify store, the Buy Button brings the purchase experience directly to where your audience already is.
This guide covers how to create Buy Buttons, embed them on external sites, customize their appearance, and use them strategically to capture sales from content and platforms outside your main Shopify store.
What the Shopify Buy Button Does
A Buy Button generates an embeddable code snippet that renders a product card — with image, title, price, and a “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” button — anywhere you paste the HTML. When a customer clicks the button, they go through Shopify’s hosted checkout using your store’s payment, tax, and shipping configurations. No Shopify storefront is needed on the customer-facing side.
Buy Buttons handle: product discovery (showing your product image and details), cart management (customers can add to cart and continue shopping), checkout (Shopify’s standard hosted checkout), and order processing (orders appear in your Shopify admin just like regular store orders).
Step 1: Install the Buy Button Sales Channel
In your Shopify admin, go to Sales Channels → Add Sales Channel. Find and add Buy Button. This installs the channel interface where you’ll create and manage your Buy Button code snippets.
The Buy Button channel is free — there are no additional monthly fees. You pay standard Shopify Payments processing rates (or your plan’s transaction fee if using another payment provider) on orders generated through Buy Buttons, same as your regular store orders.
Step 2: Create a Buy Button
In the Buy Button channel, click Create a Buy Button. You’ll choose between two types:
- Product Buy Button — embeds a single product with your choice of layout options: standalone button only, product card with image and details, or collection display
- Collection Buy Button — embeds an entire collection with browsable products
Select your product or collection. Then customize the button appearance: colors, typography, layout, and what happens when customers click (Add to Cart popup, redirect to Shopify checkout directly, or redirect to full product page on your Shopify store).
Step 3: Customize the Buy Button Appearance
The Buy Button editor provides visual controls for:
- Button text — “Buy Now,” “Add to Cart,” “Shop Now,” or custom text
- Button style — color, font, border radius, and size
- Layout — button only (minimal), product card (image + title + price + button), or full display
- Cart behavior — popup cart within the page vs. redirect to Shopify store checkout
- Language — if embedding on non-English sites, set the button language
Match the button styling to the site where you’re embedding it — a Buy Button on a minimalist design blog should look different from one on a colorful lifestyle newsletter.
Step 4: Copy and Embed the Code
After customizing, click Generate code. Copy the JavaScript snippet provided. Paste this code into the HTML of your external site at the exact location where you want the button to appear.
For WordPress: use a Custom HTML block in the Gutenberg editor (not Classic Editor paste — you need the HTML block). For Squarespace: add a Code block. For Wix: add an HTML element. For email newsletters: most email clients block JavaScript — use a simple image-linked button pointing to your product page instead.
Step 5: Use Buy Buttons Strategically
Buy Buttons are most powerful in these contexts:
- Content marketing blog — embed Buy Buttons within blog posts where you mention or review products; convert readers at the point of highest interest
- Linktree/link-in-bio pages — instead of just linking to your store, embed individual product Buy Buttons on a custom link page
- Email landing pages — campaign-specific landing pages (hosted externally or on a simple static site) with Buy Buttons for featured products
- Affiliate and partner sites — give partners your Buy Button code for their sites; track referrals with UTM parameters
- Event pages — embed merchandise Buy Buttons on event websites, conference pages, or venue sites
Step 6: Track Buy Button Performance
Buy Button orders appear in your Shopify admin with the sales channel recorded as “Buy Button.” Use Shopify Analytics → Sales by Channel to see Buy Button revenue contribution. For more granular attribution (which specific page generated the sale), add UTM parameters to your Buy Button’s checkout URL in the code customization settings.
A UTM-tagged Buy Button on your blog generates orders attributable to specific blog posts in Google Analytics, enabling ROI calculation for your content marketing investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Shopify Buy Button free?
The Buy Button sales channel is free to install and use. You pay no additional monthly fees for the channel. Orders generated through Buy Buttons are subject to standard Shopify Payments processing fees (or your plan’s transaction fee if using third-party payment processors), same as your regular store.
Can I use the Shopify Buy Button on WordPress?
Yes — the Shopify Buy Button works on any HTML-supporting platform including WordPress. In WordPress, use the Gutenberg Custom HTML block to paste the Buy Button code snippet. Shopify also offers a dedicated WordPress plugin (“Shopify Buy Button”) in the WordPress Plugin Directory that makes embedding simpler for WordPress users.
Can I embed a Shopify Buy Button in an email?
The JavaScript-based Buy Button doesn’t work in email clients (most block JavaScript for security). Instead, use a static product image linked to your product page, or create an HTML button styled to match your Buy Button using inline CSS. For email commerce, consider Klaviyo’s embedded product blocks in email campaigns as an alternative approach.
Does the Buy Button work for digital products?
Yes — Buy Buttons work for any product type in your Shopify store, including digital products that deliver downloadable files after purchase. The checkout process is the same as physical products; digital product delivery is handled by your Shopify store’s configuration (native digital delivery or via apps like Sky Pilot).
Can I use Buy Buttons to sell on social media?
For social media, dedicated integrations (Instagram Shopping, TikTok Shop, Pinterest Shopping) are usually better than Buy Buttons. Buy Buttons work best on web pages where JavaScript can execute. For link-in-bio pages on Instagram, a custom landing page with embedded Buy Buttons is an effective approach for showcasing multiple products.
Final Thoughts
The Shopify Buy Button turns any webpage into a point of sale — unlocking sales from your blog, partner sites, and content marketing without requiring visitors to navigate to your store. For merchants with strong content presences on external platforms, Buy Buttons create purchase opportunities at precisely the moments of highest buying intent.
For more on extending your Shopify store’s reach, explore our guides on social commerce setup, SEO for organic discovery, and email marketing for campaigns that drive Buy Button traffic.
