YouTube is one of the most entertaining internet platforms with loads of good content available on it. All thanks to the creators of the content that keep us entertained. Apart from being a source of entertainment for all, YouTube also provided a stage for those hidden stars to showcase their talent and opened doors of further great opportunities for them. Since its inception, YouTube has been a platform where audiences share and access content. Now, however, the platform is venturing into something new for its users.
YouTube is now set to sell the merchandise of the content creators with the assistance of third-party apps. It has added a feature in their application which enables the audience to buy the merchandise from the same place. As per the data, 55% of the consumers watch videos related to products they wish to buy, to have a brief knowledge about it. This helps them make a rational buying decision. Taking advantage of this consumer behavior, YouTube has introduced this new feature.
How will the new feature be customer friendly?
YouTube creators will be asked to tag and track products that they show/use in their videos. Besides that, the creators will be able to sell their brand product just by uploading a massive catalog of the items which the viewer can directly purchase from YouTube. The company is also testing a new integration with Shopify Inc. for selling items through YouTube.
Initially, this feature is only availed by a few creators in a particular region depending on their popularity. This operation is carried at a small level because the company is still analyzing and gathering the data of users. For instance, in India, Bhuvan Bam (BB ki Vines) is currently the only YouTube who has got the ‘store’ feature from YT to put up his products – mask, t-shirt, and hoodie.
Why is YouTube introducing shop features on its platform?
Just after the lockdown, there was an enormous boom in the e-commerce industry – Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra. Also, the recent festive sales have broken all records in comparison with the previous year’s sales and revenue. Thus, YouTube saw an opportunity to introduce its new e-commerce facility in its well-established app.
Besides that, it is widely believed, that influencers play a key role in this world of technology in influencing the audience. Any product or service they showcase on their page can upscale the sales of a brand. So, now YouTube will give the option to influencers to tag or clip the product used in the video and the viewers can buy the product just by pressing the buy button without hopping on several different apps. This also saves time to search for the exact same product used in the video.
Although a pandemic may have restricted the travel of humans around the world the distribution of goods and services has rapidly increased. With this new feature coming to life on YouTube, the sale of merchandise is sure to shoot up!
