YouTube starts testing shopping features on Shorts

SAN FRANCISCO: YouTube has started testing new shopping features on its short-video platform Shorts, along with affiliate marketing.

According to TechCrunch, the new shopping features will allow users to buy products as they browse Shorts.

Initially, the video-sharing platform added shopping features to Shorts for eligible creators in the US as a pilot, which will give them the ability to tag products from their own stores.

"We firmly believe YouTube is the best place for creators to build a business and shopping is a piece of that," a spokesperson for YouTube was quoted as saying.

Moreover, users from the US, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia can see the tags and shop through the Shorts.

The company says it plans to continue bringing tagging to more creators and countries in the future, according to the report.

The platform is also testing an affiliate program in the US, which will enable creators to earn commission by recommending products in their regular and Shorts videos.

The platform says that the test is still in its early days, and it plans to gradually expand the experiment to more creators next year, the report added.

Meanwhile, YouTube isn't the only digital giant to bet on the future of shopping, as TikTok and Meta have also invested in the space.