Verizon Media expands commerce business, plans to launch Yahoo Shops

What you need to know:

• Yahoo Shops will be the first digital media marketplace to feature native commerce capabilities and launch with a commitment to diversity, pledging at least 15% of merchants will be Black-owned businesses
• Shoppable video, personalized features, and XR tools will be hallmarks of Yahoo Shops
• With the scale of Verizon Media’s audience and advertising platforms, Yahoo Shops offers brands a seamless connection to consumers, from discovery to transaction

NEW YORK, NY - Today, Verizon Media, a leader in innovation, content and commerce, announced plans to launch Yahoo Shops, a new marketplace destination featuring a curated, native shopping experience tailored to the user including innovative tech, from shoppable video to 3D try-ons, and more. Yahoo Shops is also committed to diversity, pledging at least 15% of merchants will be Black-owned businesses, with plans to increase inclusion of other underrepresented groups in retail.

Verizon Media’s accelerated commerce strategy puts the company in a unique position as the only digital media company to feature native commerce capabilities, at scale. For brand partners and advertisers, this means Yahoo Shops is a one stop commerce and advertising solution. Yahoo Shops merchants can meet shoppers anywhere along their journey, from awareness to transaction with Verizon Media’s advertising platforms. For consumers Yahoo Shops is a new and seamless way to discover, engage and shop, all within a personalized digital storefront experience. Following a quick onboarding about their unique tastes and preferences, Yahoo Shops users will see their own digital mall, only featuring brands that fall into their areas of passion and interest.

“Since the beginning of our commerce expansion we’ve focused on delivering a smart and personalized shopping experience for our users, while shortening the path to purchase for our brand partners,” said Andrea Wasserman, Head of Global Commerce, Verizon Media. “Yahoo Shops is that manifestation and it brings the best brick and mortar concepts online while helping shoppers connect with new brands and support diverse merchants.”

Yahoo Shops will launch with sustainable small brands like Woo Skin Essentials (by PROJECTWOO), Golden Secrets, and Act + Acre. The Yahoo Shops experience will include:

• Shopping the story: Users can directly purchase products featured from trusted reviews and editorial roundups, to shoppable video.
• XR experiences: Including beauty AR tools, a 3D product catalog, a virtual 3D dressing room and more.
• A personalized storefront: Following a quick onboarding about their unique tastes and preferences, Yahoo Shops users will see their own digital mall, only featuring brands that fall into their areas of passion and interest.
• Secure check-out and payment integrations. Express check-out, shipment optimization, and buy-now, pay-later services.

Yahoo Shops pledges at least 15% of merchants will be Black-owned businesses at launch. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic it has been estimated that 40% of Black-owned businesses will not survive¹. Yahoo Shops will curate diverse merchants with a meaningful mission that Verizon Media consumers can truly connect with, and plans to take similar steps to increase inclusion of other underrepresented groups in retail.

For brands, Yahoo Shops is a one stop commerce and advertising solution. For users, Yahoo Shops is a digital marketplace built around each shopper’s personal passions. Building immersive shopping experiences based on user passions has been a key pillar of Verizon Media’s commerce expansion.

Additionally, today Verizon Media has premiered an expansion of the already popular In The Know shopping network, with ITK Parenting and ITK Cooking. In The Know is Verizon Media’s cross-channel video platform inspired by youth culture, which has grown to nearly 20M unique visitors, making it a top 25 lifestyle property in the US². ITK Parenting and ITK Cooking will bring viewers candid and informative short form content from influencers like Rocky Barnes, HBFIT founder and author Hannah Bronfman, celebrity chefs, and more.

In The Know has grown to nearly 20M unique visitors, making it a top 25 lifestyle property in the US. In The Know increased gross merchandise value (GMV) by 125% YoY.

As online shopping has accelerated, Verizon Media has been able to meet the needs of consumers and brands alike, driving deeper value for premium partners. Since 2020, Verizon Media has driven sales value for merchandise sold through content commerce, Yahoo Mail inbox shopping and more, by 213% (Gross Merchandise Value), illustrating the power of storytelling and tech innovation in commerce. For more information on Yahoo Shops, visit: shops.yahoo.com.

¹ Source: University of California: Santa Cruz and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

² Source: Comscore Media Metrix ® Multi-Platform, Total Audience, INTHEKNOW.COM, Lifestyles Category, Total Unique Visitors/Viewers, December 2020, U.S.