YouTube boosts Indian shopping experience with new AI tools and major brand partnerships

YouTube India has expanded its Shopping Affiliate Program by adding Nykaa and Purplle alongside Flipkart and Myntra, amid a 250% surge in shopping-related watch time, as it evolves into a full monetization ecosystem empowering creators and merchants

YouTube is stepping up its shopping game in India by expanding its affiliate program, adding major merchant partners, and introducing advanced AI-driven features to boost creator-brand collaborations. The platform recently announced the inclusion of Nykaa and Purplle, two leading beauty and lifestyle retailers, into its YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program, complementing existing partnerships with Flipkart and Myntra.

This move follows a remarkable surge in shopping-related watch time on YouTube India, which has grown over 250% year-on-year, driven by more than 200 million logged-in users searching for shopping content. According to Gunjan Soni, Managing Director of YouTube India, “The next era of video commerce is being shaped by India’s dynamic creator economy. We are evolving from a simple affiliate program to a comprehensive monetization ecosystem, empowering creators with new tools and formats while deepening relationships with top merchants.”

Expanded merchant network and creator opportunities

With the program’s expansion, creators can now tag products from Nykaa and Purplle in their videos, giving viewers a broader range of beauty and lifestyle products to explore. This integration is timely as 89% of beauty shoppers in India reportedly rely on YouTube to make confident purchase decisions. To support rising demand, YouTube will also collaborate with Nykaa to mentor emerging beauty and lifestyle creators in the country.

Key industry voices echoed their enthusiasm about these partnerships. Flipkart’s Vice President of Growth and Marketing, Pratik Arun Shetty, emphasized the powerful synergy between commerce and creativity on YouTube. Myntra’s VP Marketing, Deepash Jain, highlighted the significant growth in social-led commerce enabled through YouTube collaborations. Similarly, Nykaa and Purplle executives praised YouTube’s platform for fostering authentic and engaging content-driven commerce.

AI-powered innovations and brand collaborations

YouTube is also rolling out AI-powered product tagging, enabling automatic display of product tags at precise moments when mentioned in videos to capture peak viewer attention. Later this year, this feature will expand to automatically identify and tag eligible products across all videos. Additional tools include Product Stickers on Shorts, timestamp-synced tags, and a Chrome extension for easier tagging and product saving.

To strengthen brand-creator partnerships further, YouTube introduced features like flexible brand segment insertion in sponsored videos, direct brand links in YouTube Shorts, and a Creator Partnerships Hub within Google Ads to streamline collaborations.

With over 40% of eligible Indian creators participating and more than 3 million videos tagged with products, YouTube is rapidly building a vibrant ecosystem where content, commerce, and community seamlessly converge.