YouTube India is turning content into commerce with its expanded Shopping Affiliate Program, introducing AI-powered features and new creator tools: Shorts-stickers, timestamp-tags, and a Chrome extension, to make videos more shoppable. At a press briefing held in Mumbai on October 10, the platform highlighted its focus on turning discovery into direct sales while empowering India’s creator ecosystem. Over the past year, 100M channels uploaded videos, and 15k creators crossed the 1M-subscriber mark, building strong trust and engagement with their audiences. YouTube is now focused on supercharging the ecosystem, providing creators with more ways to earn sustainably while connecting audiences with products they love.
The program now includes major partners like online beauty marketplaces, Nykaa and Purplle, enabling seamless shopping across mobiles and Connected TVs, while AI ensures context continuity and helps creators convert influence into sales. Campaigns already show results: Kia’s QR-enabled Connected TV ads drove 3.6x higher conversions for test drive bookings, while Ajio’s Big Bold Sale, leveraging Shorts and creator-linked product feeds, doubled standard campaign conversion rates. YouTube sees 79% daily user engagement, 650 million monthly Shorts viewers, and 75 million active CTV users.
In an interview with IMPACT, Gunjan Soni, Country Managing Director, YouTube discussed the insights behind the program and how it addresses the evolving needs of creators and viewers:
Q] How did the idea for YouTube’s Affiliate Marketing Program come about?
We launched this program a year ago to leverage YouTube’s shopping journey insights. Nearly 200 million logged-in users were actively searching for shopping content, and surveys showed that 88% trust creator recommendations, while 85% use YouTube for complex purchase decisions. This highlighted the opportunity to shape the journey, and the bet has paid off. Creator adoption has been strong, and merchant expansion is underway, with Nykaa and Purplle joining Flipkart and Myntra, growing a vibrant shopping ecosystem on YouTube.
Q] What led to adding Nykaa and Purplle, and are there plans to include platforms like Meesho to connect with rural vendors?
The decision came from continuous research on what viewers and creators want. One key insight was that 89% of users feel confident in beauty recommendations from creators - a very strong indicator of purchase intent. Confidence drives decisions, which is why we brought Nykaa and Purplle on board. And without naming specific platforms yet, our intent is to nurture the entire ecosystem. This is just year one, and we’ll continuously add more partners over time, covering all brands, price points, and verticals. Over time, I’m confident the entire ecosystem will be covered, including initiatives that connect with local vendors in rural areas.
Q] How will YouTube’s `850-crore investment be used—training, infrastructure, AI, or other areas?
Almost all of them. Our role is to provide the best stage for creators, so tech investments, including AI, remain a strong focus. But we’re also nurturing creators through programs like Shopping Star and Creator Collectives, which provide training, community building, and events. This investment covers all these areas.
Q] With potential concerns about sponsorship, how will you keep consumer trust?
Complete and unequivocal transparency has always been the way we work. In the Affiliate Program, the creator tags the product they are already talking about in the video, providing a link for purchase if the user chooses. The user is fully aware and can make an informed choice. Sponsorship ads are different but again fully transparent, clearly marked as promotional where users can expect it to be an ad.
