InMobi's Glance enters influencer-led shopping with Shop101 acquisition

This is the first major deployment of the funds raised in Dec, when Glance became a unicorn with Google's backing

Glance, the world’s leading lock-screen platform owned by mobile ad network InMobi, has forayed into the fast-growing influence-led shopping segment by acquiring Shop101 for an undisclosed amount.

 

The cash-equity deal is a bet on live commerce, a segment that is at a nascent stage in India but has seen major success in markets like China.

 

This will provide Glance and its short-video platform Roposo end-to-end capability for launching celebrity- and influencer-led live commerce, the firm said on Monday, as it looks to transform mobile shopping experience for consumers globally.

 

“This will transform the shopping experience on mobile. Traditional e-commerce that we are accustomed to is intent-led. We are redefining the experience in a fun and entertaining manner with influence-led live commerce,” said Piyush Shah, co-founder, InMobi Group, and President & COO, Glance.

 

“This is the first major deployment of the funds raised in December,” he told PTI.

 

It will be available in several categories such as beauty, fashion and homecare.

 

According to a RedSeer report, live commerce is expected to clock a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $4-5 billion in India by 2025. While fashion is expected to contribute 60-70 per cent of the GMV, beauty and personal care will contribute the remaining 30-40 per cent. This model has seen success in China accounting for over 20 per cent of the total e-commerce sales. 

 

“We had started Shop101 as a social e-commerce platform with a vision to democratise entrepreneurship and commerce for the masses using a technology-first approach. With Glance and Roposo, Shop101 will now be part of a company that shares our goal of transforming the shopping experience for millions of consumers globally,” said Abhinav Jain, founder & CEO of Shop101.

 

Glance and Roposo will have access to Shop101’s market-leading e-commerce technology platform, supply chain infrastructure and the team required to build the celebrity- and influencer-driven commerce platform. It will also benefit Shop101’s suppliers who can leverage Glance’s 125 million-plus daily active users to grow their businesses.

 

“We feel that the country’s creators now want to become microentrepreneurs and make it a stable career option. So we can enable a breed of entrepreneurs with this initiative the way Meesho did for home makers,” said Shah.

 

Beyond advertising, live influencer-led commerce is going to be the second leg of monetisation for the platform and the company will also have a revenue-share model with content creators, added Shah.

 

Glance, which became a unicorn in December after backing from technology giant Google, is looking at other acquisitions to enhance its capabilities over the next few years.

 

“Google came in as a strategic investor and liked the fact that we have managed to reimagine the lock screen surface into a content platform. They are partnering with us on various fronts to make this content far richer,” said Shah.

 

Glance had acquired video-sharing social media platform Roposo in November 2019.