Glance banks on live streaming, launches new made in India content category

In a bid to increase user engagement, artificial intelligence based software company Glance has launched a new category 'hyperlive' to let consumers interact with content creators live. The company, which forayed into live content space in the second quarter of 2021, delivers personalised content to the lock screens of smartphones.

The new category, which will make its debut on August 15, will stream 30 hyperlive shows. Some of the shows include India Ki Umeed which will host select Commonwealth Games 2022 medalists including Tulika Maan, Eldehose Paul, Sushila Devi and Sagar Ahlawat, among others. These sportspersons will conduct live shows capturing their personal journeys and achievements in run up to the Independence Day.

Another live show called Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, will have multiple artists perform a medley of some of the most iconic and popular soul-stirring songs. Users will be able to request the host to play their favorite patriotic songs.

Another show called Indian Local will celebrate the success of home-grown brands like EK, Khoj.city and A Littel Extra among others. In this hyperlive commerce show via live creator streams, users will be able to select up to four brands using a live request board, and all products from the most voted brands will be available at a discount of up to 75 percent.

After building the lock-screen content category, the platform has launched another made in India category which the company will take to international markets, said Piyush Shah, President and COO, Glance.

"We want to start with India and then go global. Hyperlive is a two-way interaction through which users can engage with sports stars, celebrities. Content consumption is richer on hyperlive," Shah told Moneycontrol.

Almost 100 million users will be able to experience content in the new category on their lock screens.

He said that they will monetise the hyperlive category through advertising or through digital/virtual commerce. "But there is no hurry to monetise it. There can be product launches in terms of advertising experience also," added Shah.

The platform is also getting a different category of creators for hyperlive. "We are nurturing the hyperlive creator system. We have trained 100 such creators who we call creator jockeys. We have launched 'school of live' program/academy which allows training for creators. We want to generate livepreneurs," he said.

The platform which is focusing on growing the commerce pie had recently launched a festival called Glance Live during which many of its influencers and even celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rajkummar Rao created live content.

"Glance Live Fest was a beta phase for us to see how people react to live and hyperlive content. Over a couple of days we saw 20 million people interacting and we saw 10 million interactions," said Shah.

He said that live commerce has been a huge focus for Glance. "It (live commerce) is generating fairly large GMV (gross merchandise value) for our scheme of things. It is going to be contributing 10 percent of our revenue by end of this year which will go up to 20 percent by next year. There are certain specific categories where users are making the decision of buying including fashion, beauty, electronics, among others," Shah said.