YouTube Now Lets Viewers Shop Directly From Short Videos

YouTube has introduced a new avenue of e-commerce by allowing users to shop directly from its Shorts videos.

Glossier is the first brand in this venture to feature this new ability as it promotes its newest eyeliner, the No. 1 Pencil.  

Shorts, which are short-form clips captured in a portrait view, are YouTube’s answer to TikTok’s infinite scrolling. Taking this feature an extra step, YouTube has now provided the ability to shop through videos. With brands taking to social media to boost their presence and marketing, the addition of e-commerce to this new preferred format of consuming media is a long time coming.  

On each video that promotes the eyeliner is a hashtag, #WrittenInGlossier, that directly links the viewer to the merchant’s website, where they can buy the product. People are invited to create videos of them using Glossier products and to upload them as a Short with the hashtag used. 

The campaign to promote shopping on Shorts, called Shoppable Shorts Challenge, premiered on June 8 and will run up till June 23. The sale is part of YouTube’s second Beauty Festival. To promote the challenge, Glossier has also recruited the help of singer Kehlani via a Short on its YouTube channel.  

YouTube and Google are looking to bank on the high viewership of Shorts and to provide a new approach to marketing. Google reported an estimated 30 billion views on Shorts per day. Around 55% of advertising executives have stated that a shoppable function on a platform has broadened brand awareness, according to insights from Marketing Dive. This opens up a new audience reach for brands and content creators and YouTube continues to provide new ways of monetization to its creators.  

[via The Drum and Marketing Dive, cover image via YouTube]