Google-owned YouTube is set to enter into the commerce space with the launch of its first official shopping channel.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, the channel will launch on 30 June with the ultimate aim of making YouTube more ‘shoppable’.

The channel will operate for an initial 90-day period and provide a live-commerce platform to around 30 brands to advertise and sell their wares.

Yonhap noted that South Korea has a booming live-streaming commerce business, with leader Naver dominating the market. The country is viewed as a prime test market for the US tech giant to dip its toe into live-streaming commerce, with its market set to grow to $7.7 billion this year.

In comments to Yonhap, a spokesperson for the company said: "We may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time.”

For YouTube, this move represents another attempt at emulating its Asian rivals. YouTube already launched its ‘Shorts’ videos feature in an effort to ape the success of the vertical, mobile-oriented short-form video of TikTok.

Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler earlier this year said that the company would look for means of increasing advertiser spend at a time when platforms like TikTok are growing at a much faster rate. He said that there is “lots of potential in making it easier for people to shop from the creators, brands and content they love".

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