YouTube To Introduce Live Shopping Features, India Rollout Next Week

Video streaming platform YouTube on Tuesday (July 19) announced that it will roll out shoppable content for viewers in the United States, India and Brazil beginning next week.

“The company is also introducing a new shopping destination in Explore for viewers in the United States, India and Brazil. The new shopping destination will feature relevant shoppable content for viewers in these countries,” YouTube said in a blogpost.

As part of the initiative, the streaming giant also announced a partnership with ecommerce enabler Shopify to integrate live shopping on the platform. The move will enable content creators to patch their Shopify stores to their respective YouTube channel.

“..we’re announcing our partnership with Shopify to enable creators and merchants to easily feature their products across their YouTube channels and content. Now eligible creators can link their Shopify store to their YouTube channel in just a few steps,” YouTube said. 

The partnership aims to leverage Shopify’s inventory syncing to enable creators to seamlessly link their stores on their respective channels. 

Essentially, Shopify will update product details including pricing and shipping across channels, and will also remove the said product from the recommendations if it sells out.

“We believe creators are the next generation of merchants, and YouTube has been a long-time leader in powering this new cohort of entrepreneurs. We’re excited to partner with YouTube, and help scale the creator economy into its next phase of growth,” Kaz Nejatian, vice-president of product at Shopify, said.

In addition, the streaming platform also announced that eligible creators will also be able to tag products directly during a livestream. YouTube has also unveiled tools that will allow users to manage settings on how their products appear and are tagged across the channel. 

YouTube also said that it will continue to expand shopping across multiple video formats such as livestreams, shorts and long-form videos. 

Quoting a study undertaken in partnership with Publicis and TalkShoppe, the streaming giant noted that 89% of viewers agree that YouTube creators give recommendations they trust. The move is likely building on the findings to amp up its offerings and build the next stage of social commerce.

The move will pit YouTube against Indian social commerce startups like Meesho, Flipkart-backed Shopsy, among others.

According to a report, the social commerce industry in the country is expected to grow to $8.25 Bn by the end of 2022. The report also forecast that the market will reach around $143 Bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 62.4% between 2022 and 2028.