Mumbai: Google-owned YouTube announced on Friday that it would expand its shopping feature in India by launching the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme, media reports said.

The initiative will begin with partnerships with e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Myntra, a leading online fashion retailer, reported The Economic Times.

Through this programme, eligible creators can tag products in their videos, earning revenue when viewers make purchases on these retailers' sites.

“The incredible global success of YouTube Shopping, with over 30 billion hours of shopping-related content watched in 2023 alone, demonstrates the power of connecting creators, viewers and brands in exciting new ways,” said Travis Katz, YouTube’s general manager and vice president of shopping, the ET report said.

The YouTube Shopping affiliate programme adds to the platform's existing monetisation options, which include ad revenue, YouTube Premium, channel memberships, and fan-driven features to support creators’ revenue generation.

According to chief executive Neal Mohan, YouTube’s creator economy has contributed Rs 16,000 crore to economic activity and generated 7,50,000 jobs in India.

“A new area that I'm very excited about where I think India will lead the way in the world is video commerce — those types of shopping opportunities will be very vibrant on our platform,” Mohan said, noting that YouTube is testing the new YouTube Create app and AI-led language tools in India before their global rollout.

Online platforms are increasingly turning to video commerce and collaborating with content creators to expand marketing reach.

Flipkart and its group company Myntra have been leveraging video commerce through initiatives like Myntra Minis, Ultimate Glam Clan, and Flipkart’s Affluencer programme.

Rival Amazon is also exploring video commerce, which has shown strong engagement in fashion and beauty categories that benefit from influence-driven purchases.

With 98% of its creator base comprising micro and nano influencers, Flipkart has employed video commerce to enhance authenticity and community engagement.

“To make shopping engaging and personalised and empower customers to make informed purchase decisions, we have pioneered video commerce on our platforms, covering a variety of categories, including fashion, beauty, personal care, home furnishing and more, with strong engagement with customers across tier-2 and -3 cities,” said Ravi Iyer, senior vice president and head of corporate development and strategic partnerships at Flipkart Group.

“Using the YouTube Shopping Affiliate programme, we aim to further boost the experience and engagement of customers using Flipkart and Myntra by enabling product discovery through videos by creators on YouTube,” he added.