Cluster Head - Last Mile

YouTube Shopping expands merchant ecosystem in India as creator payouts surge over 160%. ANI | Updated: Sep 24, 2026 14:39 IST New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): YouTube Shopping is set to expand its merchant ecosystem in India with the addition of Amazon, AJIO, Meesho, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ, while new AI-powered tools are expected to make product discovery and creator monetisation more seamless ahead of the festive shopping season.YouTube on Thursday announced the expansion of its YouTube Shopping affiliate programme in India, adding the new partners to existing retailers including Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, Purplle, Shopsy and Tira. The company said the expansion will give consumers and creators access to a wider range of products across value marketplaces, major retailers and specialised beauty brands.The move comes as creator earnings through YouTube Shopping continue to rise. Average payouts to Indian creators grew more than 160 per cent year-on-year between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026, compared with more than 100 per cent growth globally.More than 50 per cent of eligible Indian creators are now enrolled in the programme, with enrolment growing 200 per cent year-on-year. These creators have tagged more than 19 million videos, according to the company. YouTube said more than 450 million logged-in users in India search for shopping-related content on the platform, while shopping-related watch time in the country has increased 55 per cent year-on-year.Alongside the merchant expansion, YouTube is introducing new AI tools for viewers, creators and brands. Its Ask YouTube for Shopping feature will allow viewers to ask questions and follow up on products directly on a video's watch page, including through voice commands while watching on TV.YouTube is also updating product tags for creators with global audiences, with tagged products adapting to domestic deals from regional retailers and local currencies based on the viewer's location. The company said this will allow Indian creators to earn commissions more seamlessly from international audiences.The platform is further expanding tools that allow brands to amplify organic creator affiliate content through paid campaigns. Ask Studio for Brand Partnerships, which is rolling out soon, will use generative AI to help creators pitch campaigns and respond to brand briefs.Exclusive Affiliate Campaigns, offering bonus incentives and higher commission rates, are scheduled to roll out in India next year. Globally, shopping-related watch time on YouTube crossed 40 billion hours in 2025, while gross merchandise value grew 13-fold over two years. (ANI)

How D2C and meesho/amazon sellers are fueling StudioBackdrops' next growth wave. Sep 9, 2026 - 14:47 New Delhi [India]: Every new seller that Meesho, Amazon, or Flipkart signs up in a small town eventually needs to shoot a product photo or a reel. That's the demand StudioBackdrops.com has been building around since 2016 and the marketplace numbers show why the timing works. The seller base is expanding fast. * Meesho's transacting seller base stood at 1.04 million, up 81% year-on-year, with Tier 2-and-smaller towns making up 45% of it * Flipkart says AI tools integration helped drive 80-85% growth in new seller onboarding from Tier 3, 4 towns this year compared to last * Meesho's content-commerce push saw a three-fold increase in order volumes during 2024 testing and reached 14.5 million users in a year - enough traction for the company to launch Creator Club this week, a dedicated platform pairing creators directly with sellers StudioBackdrops has done this before. The company's own sales mix has swung with the broader D2C wave, by its founder's account: * Pandemic era: the business was 90% online, 10% offline, and saw 600-800% revenue growth as creators built home studios * Post-2023: as revenge-buying faded and e-commerce traction slowed, the company shifted to a B2B model * Today: 70% B2B and 30% online, running through more than 200 dealers across Tier I, II and III cities, including remote cities. Founded with a bootstrapped ₹1.5 crore by Archisman Misra, StudioBackdrops now stocks over 6,500 SKUs, including its in-house brands Indus - which has captured 70-75% of the Indian seamless backdrop market - and AriesX, its lighting and studio solutions line that is competing with international giants. The company has reported 40% year-on-year growth. On why the company is now investing in mentorship rather than just equipment, Archisman Misra said, "India's creator economy is moving beyond the pursuit of better gear. The real gap today is know-how, understanding the right setups, making smarter equipment investments, avoiding common mistakes and learning the workflows that often take years to develop. That thinking is behind SBD Creators, the company's new nationwide mentorship program, which aims to onboard at least 100 creators by the end of 2026 across all 28 states, with content in regional languages including Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati and more. The company says it can already reach 20,000+ PIN codes nationwide, including a custom shipping route it built to get equipment to a photographer in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, logistics that lines up with where Meesho and Flipkart say their own new sellers are increasingly coming from.