YouTube expands India shopping affiliate programme with Amazon, AJIO, Meesho and more
YouTube has added Amazon, AJIO, Meesho, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ to its India shopping affiliate programme, alongside existing retail partners. The platform said shopping-content watch time in India rose 55% year-on-year, while creator affiliate payouts grew more than 160%.
What happened
YouTube expanded its India shopping affiliate programme through partnerships with Amazon, AJIO, Meesho, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ, adding to existing retail
Key facts
- Average affiliate payouts to Indian creators grew over 160% year-on-year between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026
- Global affiliate payout growth was 100%
- Shopping-related watch time in India rose 55% year-on-year
- More than 45 crore logged-in users in India search for product-related content
Why this matters
Commerce platforms and brands should pursue creator-tech, attribution and affiliate-network partnerships as YouTube’s expanded retailer roster makes video shopping a more strategic distribution layer.
What to watch
- Number of active Indian creators tagging products and the share generating recurring affiliate sales.
- Retailer-specific commission rates, exclusive coupon offers and SKU/category restrictions.
- Conversion rate and average order value from YouTube affiliate traffic versus search, social and marketplace-native ads.
- Whether Meesho and value-led merchants demonstrate meaningful conversion among tier-2 and tier-3 audiences.
- Expansion of the programme into Hindi and regional-language creator tools, local-language catalogues and live shopping.
- Evidence that retailers reallocate performance-marketing spend toward YouTube Shopping or report incremental versus cannibalized marketplace orders.
- Amazon, AJIO, Meesho and Tata CLiQ launch creator-specific landing pages, commission boosts and seasonal campaign kits around major Indian shopping events.
- Marketplaces expand product-feed quality, real-time availability and deep-link integration to reduce creator-linked conversion leakage.
- Brands shift influencer budgets from flat-fee awareness deals toward hybrid fixed-fee plus affiliate-commission contracts.
- YouTube introduces stronger merchant analytics, product tagging tools and attribution reporting to support retailer budget allocation.
- Competitors such as Instagram, Flipkart and Myntra intensify creator-commerce incentives, exclusive creator storefronts and shoppable short-video formats.