YouTube has extended its shopping affiliate programme in Thailand to cover Lazada, fuelling the nation’s thriving video commerce landscape.
The move follows its partnership with Shopee last year.
Under the YouTube-Lazada partnership, YouTube creators have access to a wide range of products to tag on their videos, while viewers can receive recommendations for more diverse products while watching content from their favourite creators.
This should open more opportunities for Thai brands to drive traffic and sales on Lazada by partnering with creators across Southeast Asia, said Mukpim Anantachai, head of YouTube partnerships, Thailand.
“YouTube has become a powerful destination for shopping inspiration, with 4.5 billion shopping search queries in June this year. Creators are the heart of this momentum, and we are deeply committed to helping them thrive in today’s vibrant digital economy,” she said.
Since its launch last year, the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme has allowed creators to diversify their revenue and fans to shop for product recommendations directly from their favourite creators, without leaving the video they are watching, said Ms Mukpim.
More than 35% of eligible creators in the country have enrolled in the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme, said the company.
Shopping-related watch time in Thailand grew more than 400% year-on-year, while global YouTube Shopping gross merchandise value recorded a fivefold increase, according to YouTube.
In Thailand, 88% of surveyed viewers trust YouTube creators’ views and opinions on brands and products, more than other platforms, noted the company.
YouTube is also leaning on artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the shopping experience for creators. The company recently introduced auto timestamps, which leverages an AI-powered system to automatically display product tags the moment they’re mentioned in a video, capturing viewer interest when it’s highest and saving creators time.
YouTube plans to begin testing the ability to automatically identify and tag all eligible products mentioned in videos later this year.
Varitha Kiatpinyochai, chief executive of Lazada Thailand, said the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme underscores Lazada’s commitment to delivering a seamless shopping experience.
“This initiative aligns with our brand-driven premium market positioning and advances our AI-driven shopping experience,” said Ms Varitha.
Lazada recently expanded LazMall with millions of new products from top global and Thai brands as part of its “11.11 Biggest Sale of the Year” campaign, running from Nov 10-13. Branded stores on LazMall grew more than 60%, while the average order value rose by 1,000 baht per basket over the past year, according to the company.
According to Momentum Works, branded products make up less than 30% of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sales, compared with 50% in China, highlighting growth potential.