Exclusive: Dailyhunt’s short video app Josh readies live commerce feature, partners with e-commerce players

Dailyhunt’s short video platform Josh is currently testing a live commerce feature on the platform, and is likely to launch it in the next fortnight, three persons familiar with the development said, adding that it has also partnered with multiple large e-commerce players prior to the launch.

The development comes at a time when the live commerce space is heating up as short video platforms step up their influencer-led live commerce play. The gross merchandise value of live commerce through short video platforms is expected to reach $5 billion by 2025, according to a report by RedSeer Consulting.

Considering the market potential, Josh's move doesn't come as a surprise, given it has close to 150 million active users on its platform and is India's second-largest homegrown short video app after the ShareChat's Moj and MX TakaTak combine at $300 million.  VerSe Innovation, which operates Josh, did not respond to queries sent by Moneycontrol.

Josh’s live commerce move

It remains to be seen if Josh can make a splash, given that it is a late entrant to the live commerce space.

Josh, Moj and MX TakaTak were launched after the Indian government banned TikTok in June 2020 and have since seen significant growth over the last two years, attracting more funding.

In December 2020, VerSe Innovation, which owns Dailyhunt and Josh, became a unicorn and is now valued at close to $3 billion. ShareChat parent firm Mohalla Tech became a unicorn in April 2021 and is now valued at $3.7 billion.

As short video platforms gained traction, many players started looking at live commerce as a potential revenue stream.

For instance, in October 2021, Moj launched live commerce in partnership with Flipkart. InMobi's Glance, which recently received $200 million in funding from Jio, is also betting big on live commerce through its short video app Roposo. With the backing of Reliance Retail, which also runs JioMart, Roposo's live commerce move will get a significant boost. Glance expects live commerce to account for 50 percent of revenues over time. Other short video platforms such as Chingari and Trell have also ventured into live commerce.

Considering that most players are already experimenting with live commerce, Josh is a late entrant. One of the people familiar with the development shared that the company had delayed the launch of the live commerce feature as they wanted to get it right. “We did not want to launch just for the sake of launching. We want to get it right,” he said.

The second person said that live commerce is on the road map of all short videos apps. “What will make the difference at the end of the day is how you differentiate yourself. Users are not going to be differentiators, since they are on all platforms,” he said. What will flip the game is how a platform can leverage technology to their advantage, he added.

At Josh, there is a lot of focus on technology on multiple fronts. It could be to connect creators with the right set of audience for maximum reach, which could help them monetise better. There is a lot of work going on to improve the platform’s AR camera lenses, and also music library.

“We have our ad platform that we can use to monetise. We already have 3-4 large e-commerce players who have signed up with us,” said the first person. The company is also working out a plan to reward users better. Moneycontrol could not immediately ascertain the names of the e-commerce players.

What are its competitors doing?

In a recent interview with Moneycontrol, Ankush Sachdeva, co-founder & CEO, ShareChat, said, “Video and live commerce is going to be a big way we monetise, where our influencers can engage with their fans and tell them or nudge them or create intent to buy certain items.” This is one of the three key revenue streams for the firm.

Naveen Tewari, co-founder & CEO, InMobi, which owns Glance and Roposo, said in a recent interaction that in China, live commerce accounts for 20-25 percent of the total e-commerce market and it expects India to be in the same range. The company is in talks with Reliance Retail, which can give a boost to Roposo’s live commerce push.