India’s short video platforms look to live commerce

Domestic short video platforms that sprang up in the wake of India’s ban on TikTok are turning their sights to live commerce, part of a social commerce market that could be worth $70bn within a few years.

That’s according to executives quoted in Afaqs!, who believe that live commerce is a significant opportunity. 

Why it matters

Live commerce has been a huge success in China, less so elsewhere – it’s one reason Meta has reconsidered its approach and is removing the ‘Shop’ tab from Instagram to focus instead on Reels. But in India, the local players are undeterred. 

“E-commerce platforms like Myntra or Flipkart, or home-grown social platforms like ShareChat, Chingari, Josh, etc., are embracing live commerce because the traffic they attract comes with the intention of product discovery,” says Akshay Gurnani, CEO and co-founder of Schbang. 

Takeaways 

• Sunil Kumar Mohapatra, CRO of Josh’s parent company, says social media and video-sharing apps have already become important touchpoints for brands in terms of product discovery and influencer recommendation, so adding a checkout option makes sense to complete the shopping journey.
• Deepak Salvi, co-founder and COO of Chingari, says many of its users are in lower-tier cities, where influencers have a much stronger connection with audiences. 

• Add in the limited presence of major brands in smaller cities and he believes there’s a strong live commerce proposition that could contribute around 15% of revenue in the near future.

Key quote

“I suggest these platforms need to offer exclusive products and deals, focus on creating engaging, entertaining, and educational content that’s not easily available elsewhere” – Sanjeev Jasani, COO, Cheil India.

Sourced from Afawqs!