Livestream shopping is becoming an increasingly more important focus for many social media companies such as Instagram and Pinterest.
Now YouTube is joining them by launching a range of shopping live-streams for the holiday season.
The events are aimed at viewers looking to interact with influencers and celebrities in real-time for in-app shopping.
YouTube said it plans to roll out live shopping as a way to bring an in-store experience to video.
For the first week, YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop will feature creators such as The Merrell Twins, Simply Nailogical, Donut Media, Gordon Ramsay, Patrick Starrr, Jackie Aina, Manny MUA, and MrBeast to host shoppable livestreams.
Viewers gain access to exclusive discounts and products.
“People want to shop on YouTube and, according to a study we ran in partnership with Publicis and TalkShoppe, 89% of viewers agree that YouTube creators give recommendations they can trust. We can make it easier to shop by integrating it directly into YouTube, removing steps in this process, and making the entire shopping experience fun and interactive for our users,” said Wendy Yang, Product Designer, YouTube Shopping.
YouTube also said that 87% of people got more quality information about products when they were browsing in YouTube. 75% of shoppers also agreed that YouTube generally enhanced the shopping journey.
Some of the fun features the video platform integrated to make shopping more interactive are live polls. These would allow brands and influencers to check with viewers which products they would like to see next.
“We created YouTube.com/Shopping as a temporary destination that allows you to revisit livestreams, discover new ones, and browse products shown in the videos in categories such as makeup, skincare, haircare, and electronics,” Yang added.
