commerce field that has been picking up traction as of late is TikTok.  In addition to providing ample marketing opportunities for retailers, as evidenced by the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, the video-centered app has been tightening its hold on the retail industry with an in-app sales platform.  TikTok Shop launched last September and allows brands and creators to showcase and sell products directly on TikTok, through a suite of in-app shopping touchpoints, which has proven to be highly successful for TikTok and retail brands alike.  Based on sales figures collected by New York-based market research and analytics firm YipItData, TikTok Shop is already approaching a projected annual revenue of around US$4 billion. TikTok allegedly has goals of pulling in as much as US$17.5 billion in US gross merchandise value this year. However, TikTok Shop isn’t the only major player in the social commerce landscape. Another contender in this competitive field is YouTube.  A separate report from eMarketer released in January confirmed that 68 per cent of Gen Z was likely to make purchases directly on either TikTok or YouTube.  Shopping via…YouTube? YouTube first began developing shopping features around 2018 when creators on the platform got the ability to sell their merch via videos.  In 2022, YouTube partnered with Shopify to allow merchants to feature their products in videos and began experimenting with features that allowed creators to earn commission via tagged products in their long-form videos and YouTube Shorts.  Last year, YouTube launched its first dedicated “shopping channel” in South Korea. The channel, which launched on June 30 and was live for 90 days, enabled YouTube to test out a shoppable livestream environment for local businesses. As a YouTube spokesperson told South Korean news agency Yonhap, “YouTube is committed to building an engaging, informative and entertaining shopping experience for all users, including in Korea.”  Last week, YouTube revealed that users watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos in 2023 and that the platform saw a 25 per cent increase in watch time for videos that helped people shop on YouTube. “The future of shopping on YouTube has never been brighter,” Aditya Dhanrajani, YouTube Shopping’s director of product management, commented.   The platform is doubling down on this space with the rollout of several new features intended to improve the experience of shopping on YouTube. These include: the launch of an Affiliate Hub, a centralized location where content creators can find brands to work with, promo codes, sample requests, and commission rates.  the launch of Shopping Collections, a feature that content creators can add to their Store tab, product list, and video description. Instead of listing products individually, influencers can group items together under a single category, such as “Spring Nail Must Haves”. allowing creators to tag products across multiple videos, giving them the ability to monetize older content.  the addition of Fourthwall, a web platform that allows creators to upload and sell digital products like MP3s, PDFs, and ZIP files. Giving creators the ability to sell via YouTube is key to the platform’s success, an executive from YouTube’s parent company Alphabet Inc, explained.  During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Alphabet’s senior vice president and chief business officer said, “YouTube success starts with creator success… More creators mean more content, which leads to more viewers. And via ads and subscriptions, these viewers fund our creators and drive the eyeballs and engagement our advertisers want.” To provide further proof that content creation drives retail sales, it was also revealed in this call, that YouTube’s ad revenue shot up 16 per cent year-over-year to US$9.2 billion. With growing interest from consumers in social commerce and a potential TikTok ban that may go into effect later this year, YouTube shopping is well-positioned for growth.