InMobi-owned Glance buys social commerce firm Shop101

BENGALURU: Glance, owned by mobile advertising platform InMobi, said it is buying full stack e-commerce platform Shop101 for an undisclosed amount which will help it launch celebrity and influencer led live commerce.
With Shop101, Glance - which also owns video platform Roposo - will have access to an e-commerce technology platform, a supply chain infrastructure and the talent base required to build the celebrity and influencer driven commerce platform.
"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 chief operating officer of Glance.
Live commerce in India is expected to set foot, as the industry is expected to drive gross merchandise value (GMV) of up to $5 billion by 2025, as per a report by RedSeer. Of all the categories, beauty and personal care (BPC) is expected to grow the most, likely clocking more than $1 billion in GMV, with live commerce. Fashion is expected to contribute about 60-70%.
Two key channels are driving the adoption of live commerce - Chingari and Roposo and social commerce players like Bulbul and Meesho, which started the segment at a low scale.
Specialised platforms have more than 100 million DAUs (daily active users) which means it can scale faster and China’s learnings show that short-form (video) can largely drive live commerce, added Redseer. At present, short-form content is consumed by 215 million users monthly, comprising 36% of India’s smartphone market and this is expected to rise to 600 million users over the next 4-5 years.
"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, which provides dynamic content on lock screens of Android phones, was valued at more than $1 billion in December when it raised $145 million from Google and Mithril Capital, an investment fund of PayPal founder Peter Thiel.