The platform has announced a live shopping event, YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop, starting November 15 and running for a week.
YouTube is actively testing tools for organizing live sales processes. Previously, this type of shopping was tested with individual content authors, but now the platform has announced a large-scale e-commerce event.
Dubbed the YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop, the shopping event will allow shoppers to learn about new products, access limited-time promotions, shop for a variety of products, and chat with sellers and other shoppers in real time. The event, featuring live broadcasts from companies and brands, starts on November 15 and runs for a week. As expected, the pre-holiday excitement will increase the popularity of this format.
The upcoming event will feature products from a variety of YouTube partners, including major retail brands including Walmart, Verizon and Samsung. Shopping via live streams is thus entering a new stage of testing, although it will not yet become publicly available.