Glance, an Indian technology company headquartered in Bangalore and owned by InMobi, has acquired eCommerce reseller Shop101 to advance live social selling in the country, according to a Monday (June 14) press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Backed by Google, Glance reached unicorn status in December 2020 and offers smartphone content and videos via its platform Roposo. The collaboration will connect its content with Shop101’s commerce technology and supply chain infrastructure to launch celebrity and influencer-led LIVE commerce, as the company looks to transform the mobile shopping experience for consumers globally.
“As leaders in the mobile content space, both Glance and Roposo are disrupting the way users create, discover, and consume content, making them the preferred platforms for top celebrities and creators to connect with their audience. With the addition of Shop101, we aim to make these platforms the top shopping destinations for millions of users as well,” said Piyush Shah, co-founder of InMobi Group and President and COO of Glance.
Shop101, founded by Abhinav Jain, Aditya Gupta and Kalpak Chhajed in 2015, has 10 million resellers in its network and 10,000 supplier partners. The startup reaches customers in more than 2000 municipalities in India.
Abhinav Jain, co-founder and CEO of Shop101, said the technology company launched with an eye on democratizing “entrepreneurship and commerce for the masses.”
The combined entity is planning to leverage influencer-led live social eCommerce, which it expects will be the future of global selling online. With integrated interactive and influencer-driven eCommerce recommendation tools, shoppers can engage with brand influencers and buy merchandise in real time.
Live social selling accounts for more than 20 percent of eCommerce sales and in India is expected to reach over $40 billion by 2025, per the release.
Google’s Shoploop, launched in June 2020, is a version of social selling that hosts 90-second tutorials on various products. Similar to Amazon’s 2019 launch of its Amazon Live video-streamed shopping experience, Shoploop was rolled out just prior to Facebook’s move into livestream selling with the acquisition of video-shopping platform Packgd.
India’s Shop101 raised $3.9 million in a Series C funding round in March 2020 and raised $11 million in Series B round in 2018, and a $5 million Series A round earlier that same year.
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