Simsim sought to help small businesses in India transition to ecommerce by leveraging the rising popularity of video and creators. The startup’s eponymous app acted as a platform to connect local businesses, influencers, and customers.
YouTube acquired Simsim in mid-2021 in a deal that valued the Indian firm at over USD 70 million. At the time, YouTube said the acquisition will enable the video streaming giant to help small businesses and retailers in India reach new customers in even more powerful ways.
With over 450 million users, the South Asian market is one of the largest for YouTube. The video platform also perceives India as a testbed (YouTube Go and Shorts being two examples). Its acquisition of Simsim came at a time when YouTube was beginning to explore ways to expand the video platform into an ecommerce engine.
Officials from Good Capital, which has backed Meesho as well as Simsim, said that micro-influencers are more effective at building a targeted audience (growth), creating entertaining experiences (retention), building trust (higher value), and personalising messaging (conversion). Consumer social platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) cannot meaningfully monetise via advertising-financed models in India; this unlocks the opportunity for more deeply integrated transactional platforms. New internet users in India need an interactive seller-led experience to replicate the offline ecommerce experience this market is used to.
The time may not have arrived for the thesis yet. Facebook, in 2022, shut down its live shopping feature as it shifted its focus to Reels. But not everyone is giving up. Amazon, which acquired the Indian social commerce startup GlowRoad in 2022, has introduced QVC-style livestream shopping in the country.
The retail group’s service, called Amazon Live, brings an army of more than 150 creators to host livestreams and plug products in the videos. The idea is that influencers, with their already large followings, will drive their fans to the shopping app and influence them into buying products. They get a cut each time they are able to make a sale.
YouTube is not moving entirely away from the category, though. The company will be ‘working with creators to introduce more monetization opportunities for creators through an affiliate programme and more shopping features across long-form videos, Shorts and livestreams on YouTube in 2023.’
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