How to show product videos on Shopify collection pages
Dawn and Horizon show a still image on collection cards and in search results, even when the product has a video in its gallery, so you need either custom theme code or an app embed to play video there. You switch an app embed on in the theme editor, and it leaves your theme code as it is.
Checked 2026-10-09 · iteractive.ai
Why your collection pages show only photos
In Dawn, the product card renders the product's first media item as an image, and the optional hover effect shows the second media item as an image too (card-product.liquid). If that media item is a video, the card shows the video's preview image.
Horizon's product card gallery works the same way: it renders each media item with a preview image only (card-gallery.liquid). So a product with a great video still appears as a photo in the grid, and in the search dropdown.
Your options
- Edit the theme's card snippet so it outputs a video element. This works, but you maintain the change yourself, and a theme update can overwrite it.
- Use a second image on hover. Both themes have a setting for it. It adds a little movement on desktop but nothing on phones, which have no hover.
- Use an app embed that plays the product's video over the card. You switch it on in the theme editor, and it can be turned off again in the same place.
What an app embed does
Shopify describes app embeds as app elements that float or display as an overlay in your theme, or add code to the store without being visible. You turn them on under Online Store, Edit theme, App embeds (Shopify Help Center).
The Autopilot embed loads the list of products that have a video from the app, finds those products' cards in collection grids and in predictive search, and plays a muted, looping video over the card image. Products without a video keep their photo. Your theme files are not edited.
Autoplay, hover and phones
Browsers allow autoplay only for muted video (Chrome's autoplay policy says muted autoplay is always allowed), so grid videos should be silent. The embed's videos have no sound.
In the embed settings you choose whether videos play while the card is on screen or only when the pointer rests on it. With the pointer option, phones show a play button by default, or can autoplay while the card is in view. Shoppers who set their device to reduce motion see the photo.
What it costs with Autopilot: Product SEO & Video
Playback in collections and search comes with a plan: Store at $9 a month or Grow at $29 a month, each with a 7-day free trial. Store also puts a motion video on every product with a photo, so every card has something to play. Collection and search playback is built and tested on Dawn and Horizon. The first 3 videos are free without a plan; they appear in the product gallery, as described in how to add a video to a product page.
Step by step
- Give products a video. Each product needs a video in its gallery. Products without one keep showing their photo.
- Open the theme editor. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store and click Edit theme (Customize) on your live theme.
- Turn on the app embed. Click the App embeds icon in the sidebar, find the Autopilot embed and switch it on.
- Pick how videos play. Choose autoplay while the card is on screen, or play on hover, and decide what phones do. Then click Save.
- Check a collection. Open a collection page and the search dropdown on your store, on a phone and on a computer.
Try it on three products
Autopilot: Product SEO & Video puts a short video into the product gallery, right after the main photo, in one click. Your first 3 videos are free and stay in your store.
Questions
Can Dawn play videos in the collection grid without an app?
Not with its standard settings. The product card outputs images only. You can change the card snippet yourself, but you then maintain that code through theme updates.
Does the app embed slow down my collection pages?
The embed loads one list of the products that have a video and plays only cards that are on screen. Videos are muted, and shoppers whose device is set to reduce motion or save data see the photo.
Will it work with my theme?
Playback in collections and search is built and tested on Dawn and Horizon. Other themes may work if their product cards follow similar markup, but we only promise the two we test.
Do videos play in the search dropdown too?
Yes, with a plan, in predictive search on Dawn and Horizon. You can switch grids and search on or off separately in the embed settings.
What happens if I turn the embed off?
Collection cards go back to your theme's photos. The videos stay in your product galleries.