India’s short-form video apps market to reach $8-$12 bn by 2030: RedSeer

Indian short-form video (SFV) market monetisation is at the cusp of a breakout and could potentially be an opportunity of $8-12 billion by 2030 owing to an increase in adoption and usage of smartphones, according to the latest report by Redseer Strategy Consultants. The report says fashion and beauty (53%), personal care (45%), and packaged food and beverages (35%) are the three categories that will see exponential growth in the short-form video platforms. "The creator economy to potentially drive monetisation along with advertising and live commerce," it adds.

In the past several years, several homegrown short-form video platforms such as Moj, Josh, and Chingari have gained popularity in the country’s growing creator ecosystem, with global players such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels only broadening the growth of the ecosystem. A report by Oxford Economics, released last year, said that YouTube's creator ecosystem generated considerable economic value, contributing ₹6,800 crore to the Indian GDP and supporting as many as 68,39,001 full-time equivalent jobs in India in 2020.

In terms of content creation, Indian apps have a lead on content depth in 3 of the 5 top content genres, with a significant difference in offerings around music or dance & dialogue, or acting content, according to the RedSeer report.

For the brand influencers market, the report projects the marketing spend on influencers to be worth $2.8-3.5 billion in 2028, from the current level of $0.35-0.4 billion. The report observes that user-generated content (UGC) platforms can become a centralised network for creators to connect with brands, which can benefit both creators and brands, as it provides a platform for creators to showcase their work and for brands to find suitable creators to work with.

"Currently, brands and influencers mostly engage via intermediary agencies – a model that is broken and lacks efficiency. Agencies may take a significant cut of the compensation for their services, which can reduce the amount of money that influencers receive. And so, there is a need for a tech-enabled, transparent, and scalable solution. Creator marketplaces can bridge this gap," says Mohit Rana, partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants.

In India, the short-form video advertising market reached $50 million in FY22. The report projects the short-form video ads market to reach an estimated $80 to $90 million in FY23 and by $3 to $6 billion in FY30.

In the e-commerce category, the report says that several e-commerce platforms are increasingly focusing on video commerce by incorporating short-form video features to enhance customer engagement and boost sales. For example, Amazon India and Meesho launched the video commerce feature in September before the festive season. In October 2021, Flipkart partnered with the homegrown short-form video platform, Moj, to enable video and video commerce experiences at scale. As per the report, the video commerce market is expected to reach $3 to $4 billion by 2030.

The report also projects virtual gifting on short-form video platforms in India to become $1.7 billion by 2030.