YouTube, the world’s largest online video platform, announced on Wednesday that it will launch its first official shopping channel for live commerce in South Korea on June 30, Yonhap news agency reported.
The new channel, which will operate in Korean language, will start as a 90-day project and will provide a live-commerce platform to companies and brands. It plans to livestream shopping content from about 30 brands, covering categories such as beauty, fashion, food, and electronics, according to Yonhap and other Korean media.
The launch of the shopping channel is part of YouTube’s efforts to become more “shoppable” and to tap into the booming live-streaming commerce market in South Korea, which is one of the most advanced and competitive e-commerce markets in the world. According to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the live-streaming commerce market in South Korea was worth 16.1 trillion won ($14.3 billion) in 2022, up 123% from 2019.
YouTube said it will leverage its large and diverse user base, its rich video content, and its advanced technology to offer a unique and engaging shopping experience to consumers and creators. The platform will also allow viewers to interact with the hosts and other viewers through chat and comments, as well as to purchase products directly from the videos.
“We may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time,” a YouTube spokesperson said, without elaborating on the details of the channel or its future plans.
YouTube has been testing various shopping features in other markets, such as allowing creators to tag products from their own stores or from other brands in their videos1, or displaying product catalogs below videos2. The platform has also introduced a new section called YouTube Shopping that showcases videos featuring products from different categories3.
YouTube’s move into e-commerce comes as the platform faces increasing competition from rivals such as TikTok, Instagram, and Naver, which have been expanding their social commerce offerings. YouTube also aims to diversify its revenue streams amid a slowdown in digital advertising due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regulatory pressures.
YouTube is a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, and has more than 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. It is one of the most popular online platforms in South Korea, with more than 40 million monthly active users.
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