Video brings motion and storytelling to your storefront. In the builder, open Insert, switch to the elements view, open Basics, and select Media. Alongside the image presets, the Media element includes four video presets:

Each preset creates a media element sized for your layout. Drag it onto the canvas like any other element, then set the source in the Design panel.

Select the video element and add the source under Content. Instant resolves platform embeds for YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo automatically. For the generic Video preset, use a direct link to a hosted file — for example a file served from Shopify Files or your CDN.

Playback options depend on the platform: you can turn autoplay on or off (browsers require autoplaying video to be muted), and control looping and whether player controls are visible. Autoplay works best for silent background loops; keep controls enabled for product demos and tutorials.

Videos respect the width of their parent Column, Row, or Grid cell. Set an aspect ratio in the Design panel to prevent layout shift while the embed loads.

On mobile, full-width video blocks often perform best. If you place text and video side by side on desktop, check the smaller breakpoints — the video may need to stack below the copy.

Place a Heading and Paragraph above a YouTube embed for campaign landing sections. Use Conditional visibility to hide a promotional video when a product is out of stock.

Use Layouts & layers to find video elements inside nested structures, and rename the layer to the campaign name so your team can update sources quickly.

Third-party embeds load scripts from YouTube, TikTok, or Vimeo. Use them where video adds clear value — hero stories, user-generated content, tutorials — rather than on every product card. For lightweight looping backgrounds, the generic Video preset with a short hosted MP4 often loads faster than a platform embed.

Set a Thumbnail for the generic Video preset (in the Media section under Content) — it's good for performance, not just appearance. When autoplay and loop are off, Instant shows the thumbnail as a lightweight poster image and only loads the actual video file when a visitor clicks play, so the embed doesn't slow down the initial page load. YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo embeds do this automatically with the platform's own thumbnail.

Provide a text summary near video content for context. If autoplay is enabled, keep the video muted. Consider a Paragraph below the embed describing key information shown in the video.