User-Generated Content for Shopify: Collect, Permit, Use
User-generated content (UGC) on a Shopify store is anything your customers create about your products, mostly photos and short videos, that you show to other shoppers. Collect it through review requests that ask for a photo, through a hashtag or tag on social media, and through creators you send products to. Before you put a customer’s photo on a product page or in an ad, get their permission in writing. Then add it to the product’s media in Shopify or show it through a review app’s gallery.
Shopify facts come from the Help Center pages on product media types, adding media and Shop product reviews; review app details from their App Store listings; all read on October 23, 2026.
Ways to collect customer photos and videos
| Source | How you get it | Permission included? | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo and video reviews | A review app asks buyers for a review with a photo after delivery | Check the review app’s terms; ask before reusing a photo outside the review | Low once set up |
| Shop app reviews | Shop asks buyers for a review after delivery | Shown in Shop; reuse elsewhere needs the customer’s OK | None |
| Social posts that tag you | Customers post and tag your account or use your hashtag | No: ask each person | Ongoing |
| Creator content | You send product and agree on what they post | Yes, if the agreement says so | Per creator |
| Direct requests | An email to recent buyers asking for a photo of the product in use | Ask in the same email | Per campaign |
Review apps are the steadiest source, because the request goes to every buyer automatically. Judge.me’s free plan lists unlimited photo and video reviews, and Loox’s free plan lists review request emails with photo review discounts, as their listings showed on October 23, 2026. A small discount on the next order for a review with a photo is a fair incentive if every review earns it, positive or not.
Shop app reviews come without setup: after delivery, Shop asks buyers for a 1 to 5 star rating and a comment of up to 1,000 characters, and shows reviews on your product page in Shop. If you use a supported review app, Shop can also display that app’s reviews, including images or videos that meet Shop’s requirements.
Social posts are the richest material and the hardest to use, because each one belongs to the person who posted it. Make tagging easy: put your handle and a hashtag on the packaging insert and in the shipping confirmation.
Get permission before you use it
A customer posting a photo of your product does not give you the right to put it on your website or in an ad. Ask first, every time, and keep the answer:
- Ask in writing. A direct message or email: “We’d love to show your photo on our product page and in our social posts, credited to @name. Is that OK?” A reply of “yes” in the thread is your record.
- Say where it will appear. Product page, emails, ads. Ask separately for ads, because the person may be happy on your product page but not in a paid ad.
- Credit the person where it appears, unless they ask not to be named.
- Keep a simple log: the image, the person, the date, the permission text, and where you used it. When someone later asks you to remove their photo, you can find every place it appears.
- Remove on request, quickly and everywhere.
For creators you pay or gift, write usage rights into the agreement: where you may use their content, for how long, and whether ads are included.
Use it on the store
On the product page as product media. Upload the customer photo or video in the product’s Media section (Products > the product > Media > Upload new). Shopify allows up to 250 media items per product, images up to 5000 x 5000 px and under 20 MB, videos up to 10 minutes, 1 GB and 4K in .mp4, .mov or .webm, or a YouTube or Vimeo link. Your theme needs to support video, which all of Shopify’s Online Store 2.0 themes and the Horizon family do. Put customer photos after your own product shots, since the first media item is the one shown on collection pages, in the cart and at checkout.
Next to reviews. Review apps show photo reviews in their widgets on the product page, often with a gallery of all customer photos. This is the lowest-effort way to show UGC, and the reviewer’s name and date sit next to the photo.
In a gallery section. A “Customer photos” section on the home page or a dedicated page works for products that look different in every home: furniture, decor, clothing on different bodies.
In emails and ads. A customer photo in a welcome email or a retargeting ad shows the product in real use. Use only photos where the permission covers that place.
Reviews, ratings and photos together are your social proof; our guide to Shopify social proof covers what to show and what crosses into misleading claims. Creator content is covered in our guide to Shopify influencer marketing. The marketing and SEO hub collects our other channel guides.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add customer photos to my Shopify product page? Upload them in the product’s Media section in your Shopify admin, after your own product photos, or show them through a review app’s photo reviews. Ask the customer’s permission before you use any photo.
Can I use a customer’s Instagram photo on my store? You need their permission first. Ask in writing, say where the photo will appear, credit them, and keep the message as your record.
What is the best way to collect user-generated content? Automatic review requests that ask for a photo after delivery bring in the most, because every buyer gets one. Judge.me and Loox both list photo reviews on their free plans.
How many photos and videos can a Shopify product have? Shopify allows up to 250 images, 3D models or videos per product. Uploaded videos can be up to 10 minutes and 1 GB, or you can embed a YouTube or Vimeo link.