Wouldn’t it be great if you could shop from your couch? I don’t just mean online shopping. I’m talking about scanning a QR code from a video and immediately adding the products to your cart. Well, YouTube Shopping is working to make this dream a reality.
To tell us more about this exciting opportunity, Conor sits down with Bridget Dolan, Managing Director of the YouTube Shopping division, in Ep. 131 of our Earned podcast.
To start, we explore how the creator economy has evolved on YouTube and unpack its significant influence on e-commerce. Bridget explains how creators, viewers, and brands are entwined in a symbiotic relationship that's reshaping retail through authentic content and seamless shopping experiences. We then dive into YouTube's innovative shopping features, including an affiliate program that fosters partnerships between over 50,000 creators and leading brands. Next, we discuss distinct consumer behaviors and trends—like Korea's live shopping craze and Brazil's unique market—and Bridget shares how cultural differences impact consumers’ shopping habits. Switching gears, Bridget reflects on her time at Sephora and reveals why she decided to join YouTube. To close the show, Bridget emphasizes the importance of authentic creator partnerships and their impact in building an audience and driving sales.
We’ve included a couple of highlights from the episode below, but be sure to check out the full video above, or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
“I love this creator and I want to buy that product, so I can just tap here and there it is.”: Bridget Dolan on How YouTube Shopping is Revolutionizing Retail for Creators and Consumers
Conor Begley: A big part of the evolution [at YouTube Shopping] has been driven by you building out the affiliate ecosystem. That's been a big area of focus right?
Bridget Dolan: I’ve been in this role at YouTube for about two and a half years, and it was really exciting when I got here because it was at the beginning of figuring out what shopping could mean on YouTube.
The reality is, shopping has always been in the DNA of YouTube. It's in the “how to” videos, “get ready with me” videos, hauls, unboxings. All of those videos are inherently shopping. Creators talking about something that they're passionate about, that they know a lot about, showing a product and demonstrating how to use it, bringing it to life and saying, “You should buy this. I love it, you will love it too.” One of the reasons I thought this job was going to be a great one was because it's not doing anything against the grain.
I felt like there were so many ways we could make it so much better. When I joined the team to pioneer and figure out what [shopping on YouTube] meant, that was a super fun part of the job. YouTube is so vast and has so many creators that there isn't just one right way to do it. I think my naïveté when I first got here was like, “ I'm going to figure out this formula of what the best creators do in the best way, and that’s how shopping is going to be, and that's what we're going to do.”
I very quickly realized the answer is being the best platform we can be. That meant finding the pathways and avenues that helped creators organically talk about products the way they want, but make features for a shopper or a viewer to be like, “I love that creator and I want to buy that product, so I can just tap here and there it is. I don't have to leave this video, I can keep watching this video and then I can just add it to my cart and buy it. And gosh, I'm still watching this video.” That's great for the viewer, but it's also great for the creator who attracted that viewer to their video.
Keep up with new episodes of Earned by following the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, or by subscribing to our YouTube channel. To catch up on our previous episodes, featuring leaders from brands like Revolve, K18, Meta, Stanley, and Roblox, visit our Earned Podcast page.