As smartphones and data plans become more affordable, the gambit of online shopping will penetrate deeper into the tier-2 and tier-3 cities of India. The new internet shoppers from India are craving an interactive seller-led experience resembling the offline e-commerce experience. The buying decisions of online shoppers today are largely influenced by product video demonstrations which are engaging. People find online videos to be the primary source of information regarding a product or service review, its functioning, etc.
To align with the new shopping behaviour, the e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart have introduced their respective ad-supported video streaming services where users can watch video content on products and services, translating to increased sales since consumers will buy what they see.
According to FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2021, the number of video viewers has increased by 15% in 2020 to reach 468 million and this number is expected to grow to 650 million by 2023.
Social commerce platforms like SimSim -a Google-backed firm, that targets shoppers from India’s small cities and towns are not behind in video-based shopping as well. The platform leverages the power of video content and micro-influencers to attract customers and has been recently acquired by YouTube.
YouTube acquiring Social Commerce Startup SimSim
Since consumer social platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube cannot meaningfully monetise through advertising finance models, this acquisition will benefit YouTube to build a new integrated shopping experience that will allow viewers to buy products they see in videos from trusted creators and will offer new revenue streams for micro-influencers that will increase retention on its platforms and expand the user base of YouTube.
SimSim in its short span of two years in 2020 has acquired $17 million in its Series B financing round.
‘‘
According to FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2021, the number of video viewers has increased by 15% in 2020 to reach 468 million and this number is expected to grow to 650 million by 2023.
How this Acquisition will benefit SimSim
Leveraging YouTube’s expansive reach of 450 million users in India, SimSim plans to help small sellers and brands by showcasing and selling their products using the power of content creators on YouTube’s platform will aid to increase the reach and customer base of SimSim in remote parts of India.
Video Marketing and Micro-influencers: The game-changers in e-commerce
Here are the reasons why social commerce platforms are widely using product videos and micro-influencers in their platforms:
Major Influencer in purchasing decision
Informative and demonstrative product videos will influence customers in making purchases due to the better representation of a product’s unique selling proposition.
Builds Customer trust and credibility
Appealing video content from micro-influencers builds trust and credibility among customers as the audience perceives them to be one of them and easily connects with their ideologies. This also increases a brand’s website conversion and traffic.
Niche Audience and Loyal Brand advocates
Micro-influencers, through their unique content creation style, target a narrower section of the audience, where the engagement rates are higher.
The best advertisement a brand can receive is from those individuals who are already using the products. Micro-influencers fall in these categories and this makes them loyal brand advocates. Sellers on social commerce platforms do not need to maximise efforts to develop the brand relationship from scratch.
What Lies Ahead for the Social Commerce Startups
According to a report from Bain & Company, the overall social commerce market is expected to grow to $16-20 billion by 2025 from a $2 billion market in 2020. The tailwinds to the growth of social commerce startups will be a deeper reach of the internet and increasing aspirations for a better life. Social commerce will leverage the emerging number of micro and vernacular influencers to showcase small sellers and business products on online platforms through interactive video content.
