YouTube has launched its shopping affiliate programme in Thailand, making Thailand the fourth country in the world and the second in Southeast Asia where it is available.
By partnering with e-commerce platform Shopee, YouTube Shopping's affiliate programme is expected to create intense competition in the e-commerce sector and the next wave of video commerce in Thailand, pressuring TikTok and Lazada.
The move seeks to capitalise on Thailand's e-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV), which is expected to reach US$30 billion in 2025.
In 2023, GMV in Thailand's e-commerce sector was $19.3 billion, of which Shopee gained a 49% share, Lazada 30% and TikTok Shop 21%, according to Momentum Works, a Singaporean venture builder and insights research firm.
According to dataportal.com, Google's advertising resources indicate that YouTube had 44.2 million users in Thailand in early 2024.
"YouTube is a unique platform that connects viewers, brands and creators. Our shopping affiliate programme takes this connection to the next level, empowering creators to monetise their content and providing viewers with a seamless shopping experience," said Mukpim Anantachai, head of YouTube Partnerships, Thailand.
YouTube Shopping's affiliate programme allows creators to earn commission when viewers purchase products they recommend, providing viewers with a seamless shopping experience.
The launch of the programme in Thailand follows successful launches in the US, South Korea and Indonesia.
This expansion taps into Thailand's thriving digital economy, projected to reach a GMV of $50 billion by 2025.
As a major driver of the digital economy, the e-commerce sector represents 61% of total digital GMV in 2023, and is poised for continued growth, reaching $30 billion by 2025, up from $22 billion in 2023, according to Google.
Thai creators are having a significant impact. There are over 1,000 channels which each had over 1 million subscribers as of the end 2023 and there are 11,000 channels each with over 100,000 subscribers.
The watch time has increased 25% on content produced by channels in Thailand, and there has been a 35% year-on-year growth in total hours of content uploaded on YouTube by channels in Thailand as of December 2023.
YouTube is uniquely positioned to support this growth, as a powerful destination for shopping inspiration. In Thailand, according to a Kantar survey, 87% of viewers agree that YouTube helps them decide what to buy.
In 2023, users worldwide watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos on YouTube and there were 350 million shopping-related videos on YouTube.
"This partnership marks a significant milestone by combining leading content from YouTube and commerce from Shopee to bring content commerce, that helps increase conversion sales," said Karan Ambani, director of Commercial, Shopee (Thailand).
"In the past two years, Shopee has focused more on Shopee Live and Shopee Video that has shown an increase in sales," he added.
It found that 88% of shoppers from Gen Y and Gen Z made purchases on Shopee after engaging with content.
"With the YouTube partnership, Shopee will further enhance opportunities outside the Shopee app, and reach more buyers," said Mr Karan.
Shopee's sellers will offer a minimum commission fee of 7% of the price of a product to creators in the affiliate programme and they also have a top up extra commission fee of 80%.