What Is YouTube Live Shopping
YouTube live shopping is a new feature that lets creators and brands tag products in their live streams. This feature allows viewers to browse and purchase products directly on YouTube. Viewers can also interact with hosts and other viewers via live chat, ask questions, get personalized recommendations, and share feedback.
Currently, YouTube live shopping is being tested with a few select creators and brands, including H&M, Sephora, James Charles, and Safiya Nygaard. And YouTube plans to expand this feature to more creators and categories in the future.
Why Use YouTube Live Shopping
The main reason why live shopping on YouTube is becoming increasingly popular is that it enables creators and brands to engage their audience and boost sales through the use of video and live streaming. With more than 2 billion active users each month, who watch over 1 billion hours of video every day, YouTube is a powerful platform for reaching a wide audience. Studies show that live streams generate 10 times more engagement than regular videos, making it an effective way to connect with viewers and increase sales.
Moreover, YouTube live stream shopping taps into the growing trend of live commerce. It’s estimated that live commerce will reach $35 billion in the US by 2024. Live commerce is a combination of the convenience of online shopping and the social interaction of in-store shopping. It also allows consumers to discover new products, get personalized recommendations, and see how products look and work.
How to Get Started with YouTube Live Shopping
If you’re interested in live shopping on YouTube, there are certain requirements you must meet to get started with this feature:
- Have an eligible YouTube channel that is part of the YouTube Partner Program and has at least 1,000 subscribers.
- Have a Google Merchant Center account that is linked to your YouTube channel.
- Have products that comply with YouTube’s policies and guidelines.
Once you meet these requirements, you can tag products in your live streams using one of the following methods:
- Upload a product feed to your Google Merchant Center account and select the products you want to feature.
- Use the Shopify integration to sync your Shopify store with your Google Merchant Center account and select the products you’d like to feature in your live stream.
- Use YouTube Studio to manually add products from your Google Merchant Center account or other brands’ catalogs.
After tagging products in your live streams, you can go live using a webcam, mobile device, or encoder software. During the live stream, viewers can see a shopping bag icon on the video player that shows the number of products featured in the stream. They can click on the icon to open a carousel of products that they can browse and purchase without leaving YouTube.
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Final Thoughts
To sum up, YouTube live shopping is a new feature that allows creators and brands to sell products directly on YouTube through live streams. To get started with this feature, creators and brands need to meet certain requirements and tag products in their live streams.