Shopping will loom large on YouTube’s plan for 2022, according to a new blog post penned by chief product officer Neal Mohan. Published Thursday, the pledge outlined an array of upgrades for creators and brands, including a more pronounced push into commerce.
“One of the most anticipated opportunities we’ll bring to our brands this year is Shopping.… We’re thinking about shoppable videos, Live Shopping and, more broadly, how shopping appears across the app,” the CSO wrote.
The video giant seems pleased with the results it has seen so far, as Mohan pointed to efforts like its commerce-equipped “Black-owned Friday” film and “Holiday Stream and Shop,” a weeklong event in November that pushed product sales from Walmart, Samsung and Verizon. The latter nabbed more than 2 million views and 1.4 million Live Chat messages, he said.
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Ultimately, the vision aims to emphasize shoppable videos even more, paving the way for layout changes that make them more visible to consumers, as well as new types of tools.
According to Mohan, some could venture into Web3, a spate of blockchain-based technologies that includes the latest buzzworthy manifestations of digital fashion.
“Web3 also opens up new opportunities for creators. We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans. Together, they’ll be able to collaborate on new projects and make money in ways not previously possible,” he said. “There’s a lot to consider in making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly, but we think there’s incredible potential as well.”
Last year the platform hit a new threshold of 2 million creators in its YouTube Partner Program. NFTs and metaverse applications would be one way to grow the community even further.
That may look like any one or more of a range of possibilities — from simply giving NFT owners a place to showcase their goods, providing tools to actually build NFTs or establishing a direct link to whatever Google’s broader metaverse plans may be. Apart from the latter’s years of development in virtual reality technology, recent reports claim its road map will include some sort of smart glasses, which would be notable considering its previous and controversial Google Glass experiment. However, when it comes to YouTube, what’s more concrete now is the fact that the video platform already supports 3D, immersive environments and augmented reality.
Mohan didn’t elaborate on specific NFT or metaverse plans, but the mention is worth pointing out, given Google’s relative silence, compared to peers and rivals like Facebook, Microsoft and even Apple. Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of parent company Alphabet, has offered broadly positive thoughts about augmented reality and ambient computing, but not much more.
In the meantime, YouTube has plenty of existing features to develop further, such as Shorts, its own bite-size video feature akin to TikTok. It plans to flesh out more ways Shorts creators can make money, including building on branded content, as well as adding features like Super Chat. But a key goal with Shorts is to make it shoppable.
Other updates will bring upgrades to creation tools and YouTube Studio analytics, along with new capabilities for creators to shoot livestreams together and users to comment on or share YouTube videos they’re watching on TV using their phones. It also plans to officially roll out gift memberships, which is currently in testing.
In all, YouTube appears to be ramping up its commerce and creator efforts this year, whether for real-world products or possibly digital goods. That’s significant considering its user base of more than 2 billion monthly actives, with 210 million overall viewers expected in the U.S. alone this year. Given the sheer heft of the video platform’s influence, its concerted push may be the biggest signal yet that shoppable video and NFTs are no temporary fads but perhaps a sea change in what and how consumers will shop in the longer term.