New shopping features are coming to YouTube Shorts, including affiliate marketing and the ability to purchase items through Shorts, as first reported by the Financial Times. 

The long-form video giant is testing shopping features with US-based creators and audiences in the US, Brazil, Canada, and Australia, allowing influencers to tag their own products in Shorts that viewers can then purchase, according to the report. 

An affiliate marketing program, open to select US influencers, adds yet another way for creators to monetise their Shorts, with YouTube, the creator, and the merchant all taking a cut of sales. 

Shopping is a potentially lucrative area for platforms that run on advertising dollars, and Shorts competitors are eyeing expanding even more into e-commerce. 

The addition of Shorts shopping features comes just days after TikTok announced similar features. TikTok recently began testing its long-anticipated Shop program, which lets users purchase products directly in the app.

 TikTok has made clear its plan to integrate shopping into its app: before testing in the US, the feature was available in the UK and parts of Southeast Asia.