Content that leads to the cart: Pocket Aces’ push to make entertainment shoppable

If iconic television shows such as Kahin Kissii Roz or Kasautii Zindagii Kay were streaming today, Ramola Sikand’s bindi or Komolika’s blouses might have been just a tap away from checkout.

Shoppable content, long familiar on social media, has begun reshaping how audiences discover and buy products. Its growing presence within shopping platforms such as Amazon and Myntra is now opening up fresh monetisation and engagement opportunities for both platforms and content creators.

Recently, Pocket Aces created a 20-episode shoppable fiction micro-drama series, Two Much Love, for Myntra’s in-app streaming feature, Glamstream. Viewers can tap on the protagonist's outfit or accessories while watching the show to navigate directly to the product's shopping page.

According to Vishwanath Shetty, senior vice president, Pocket Aces, this model effectively solves the “window-shopping” problem. Many users come to shopping apps simply to browse. While doing so, they may stumble upon Glamstream, watch a piece of content, notice a dress, accessory or overall look, click on it, and convert. In that sense, shoppable content helps turn browsers into buyers.

What excites Shetty most about content integration across platforms is the role content plays in driving conversion. “Traditional ads increasingly cause fatigue, making people tune out. Content works differently. It plays a strong role in driving consideration,” he says.

“In the funnel, consideration is a critical middle stage between awareness and conversion. When products are integrated organically into content, consideration spikes significantly. For many brands, the biggest opportunity today lies in converting consumers who are already considering them. Content becomes a powerful bridge.”

That impact is already visible at scale. During the recently held Myntra Glamstream Fest, Sunder Balasubramanian, Myntra’s chief marketing officer, revealed that up to 10% of the platform’s revenue could be directly attributed to Glamstream, which launched in July 2025.

He also noted that content-driven shopping journeys convert 25–28% better than traditional browsing behaviour.

“Users would watch a single video and not return,” Shetty says. “So we created a 20-episode micro-drama, with each episode integrating outfits, watches, accessories and makeup. By dropping one episode every day, users had a reason to return to the app and shop for what they liked from each episode.”

Beyond Myntra, Pocket Aces also creates shoppable content on YouTube, linked to platforms such as Flipkart, Myntra, Purplle and Nykaa. Within YouTube's ecosystem, this is categorised as affiliate marketing. Pocket Aces has driven roughly $4,000 worth of sales in about a month through YouTube alone.

On its FilterCopy page alone, Pocket Aces has produced over 100 branded videos, though not all are shoppable. One of its first experiments with shoppable video was a campaign for an LG dishwasher.

The short-format video, targeted at young millennials, focused on how a dishwasher simplifies daily life. The product was clearly demonstrated and explained, and Flipkart—where the same LG model was available—was tagged. 

“When viewers watch the video and hear the product being explained, there’s a natural curiosity to check the price,” Shetty explains. 

“They click on the tag and land on the add-to-cart page. Once that happens, for the next seven to ten days, any purchase made by that user is attributed to our link. It doesn’t even have to be the same product—the add-to-cart action is the trigger.”

That attribution model reflects how affiliate marketing works: the user has already shown intent. “We’re essentially getting them into the buying funnel,” Shetty says. “They may click on an iPhone or a Samsung phone and end up buying something else. But because we drove them to the platform, we earn a commission for that intent and traffic.”

Crucially, the approach avoids hard-selling. “There is never a ‘This is the product; buy it’ pitch. We never tell viewers that we’re here to sell. The moment you do that, the purpose is defeated. It always has to be content-first, not sales-first,” Shetty says.

“We ensure the outfits are clearly visible, well styled and naturally part of the narrative. The idea is to induce purchase organically.”

For this, Pocket Aces is deliberate about how fashion and styling are used within its narratives. In one of its recent micro-dramas, for instance, the three protagonists were each styled very differently, with clearly defined looks that reflected their personalities.

“When you’re creating content like this, there are two things you have to get right,” Shetty says. 

“First, you need to grab attention and keep the audience watching through a strong storyline and compelling narrative. The second layer is integration—how you weave the product into the story. Some of it is passive, but there’s also craft involved: how you frame a shot, when you zoom in or out, or when you introduce a full-length entry. The idea is to make the outfit feel aspirational, so the viewer thinks, ‘That looks great—where can I buy it?’”

The approach, he adds, is always story-first, with products layered organically onto the protagonists. “We never explicitly say, ‘I’m wearing a Myntra dress,’” he says.

That strategy, however, shifts slightly on platforms like YouTube. There, content creation begins with the target group and consumer insight. The difference lies in intent.

On Myntra, users are already in a shopping mindset, so the focus is on showcasing compelling products within engaging content. On YouTube, audiences are primarily there to consume entertainment, not to shop.

“You need a gentle nudge,” Shetty explains. “You have to signal that there’s a product without being intrusive. The storytelling remains central, but the way products are integrated changes based on where the audience is and what they’ve come there to do.”

Smartphones are the largest category, followed by laptops, apparel, accessories and watches. While lower-priced products, such as fashion, skincare and lifestyle items, perform better, higher-ticket items are also seeing traction. Samsung Galaxy phones priced around $500, for instance, are being sold through YouTube shoppable content.

Looking ahead, Shetty expects many more apps to adopt this model. Fashion, however, remains uniquely positioned.

“Myntra operates in a space where you might be watching an interview and see Deepika wearing a particular dress and instantly want to buy it but don’t know where to find it,” he says. “The affinity for fashion and accessories is much higher, and that’s where shoppable content really comes into its own.”