The Yonhap news agency reported that YouTube will introduce its first official retail channel for in-person transactions in South Korea on June 30th. An ideal test ground for the global powerhouse as it concentrates on becoming more “shoppable” is South Korea, which already has a thriving live-streaming commerce industry driven by digital giant Naver. The new channel will launch as a 90-day project and operate in Korea. As per the sources who are aware of the situation, it would initially give businesses a live-commerce platform and intends to livestream shopping material from roughly 30 brands, according to Yonhap and other Korean media.
It will be the first official shopping channel on YouTube for any nation
According to Yonhap, it is the first official shopping channel on YouTube for any nation. A spokeswoman for YouTube remarked, without going into further detail, “We may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time.” Google’s Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler stated in February that there was “lots of potential in making it easier for people to shop from the creators, brands, and content they love” due to advertisers’ reduced spending and competition from platforms like TikTok.
On Wednesday morning, shares of Naver plunged 4% while those of retailer Lotte Shopping fell 3.3%, both of which were lower than the market’s 0.5% decline. According to Kyobo Securities, the live commerce market in South Korea is anticipated to rise to 10 trillion won ($7.7 billion) this year from 2.8 trillion won in 2021, with Naver now controlling around 60% of the market.