Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Livestreams Are the Future of Shopping in America

Livestreams Are the Future of Shopping in America

The U.S. has been slow to shop via live online video, but the coronavirus sparked interest: “It’s basically digitizing QVC and HSN.” 


Sheri Hensley, co-owner of Pink Coconut Boutique, models clothes during a livestream from Olive Branch, Mississippi. She and her husband, Mic (seated), have doubled their company’s sales thanks to a boom in viewership during Covid-19.


E-commerce in the U.S. is on the cusp of big change.

A quarter century after Amazon’s founding, shopping online in America is largely the same experience: People click around a website and buy stuff. But this next phase promises a major evolution, by intertwining streaming video, social media and celebrity into a shopping experience that has the potential to further disrupt an already-battered retail industry.

So-called streaming e-commerce-or live selling-allows almost anyone (celebrities, influencers or your local store owner) to quickly create their own shopping television channel that’s also a social network and e-commerce platform-at a tiny fraction of the cost. Another way to think about it is imagine if Instagram was where you made a lot of your discretionary purchases from live video appearances by people you follow, like buying Cardi B’s purse. Or instead of just liking a picture of a fashionista in a cute dress, she’s selling it directly to you.

“It’s basically digitizing QVC and HSN,” Deborah Weinswig, chief executive officer of Coresight Research, said of the main cable shopping networks.

“It’s a huge opportunity.”


Katie Austin, a fitness instructor, hosts an hour-long workout on Amazon Live. During the stream, she takes breaks to pitch the sponsored brand’s dehumidifier. Below the video, links to products she’s using, like Under Armour shoes, scroll across the screen.


This kind of shopping generated $60 billion in global sales in 2019 and should almost double this year, according to Coresight. The U.S. accounts for a tiny sliver of that, less than $1 billion, but after taking off in China and other parts of the world, it’s growing quickly in America, including in apparel, makeup and even booze.

TalkShopLive, which debuted in 2018, is still small as it approaches 2 million users, but sales are up about seven-fold during Covid-19. At Brandlive, which works with hundreds of manufacturers, revenue is expected to double in 2020. CommentSold has seen a 50% increase in spending per viewer this year and more than a three-fold jump in retailers adopting streaming, as annual sales made over its platform are expected to rise from $326 million to $1 billion.

At Ntwrk, a mobile app that uses live shows to sell collectibles, like limited-edition sneakers, sales have surged 400%. Earlier this year, it sold $120,00 worth of gold-colored vacuum sealers from a celebrity jeweler in five seconds and some shows have topped $1 million in sales in less than 10 minutes.

Big companies are investing, too. Amazon has a streaming platform, which hosts daily shows on fitness, makeup and cooking. In May, Facebook started rolling out a live selling feature to its platforms, including Instagram. HSN and QVC, owned by Qurate Retail, have long put shopping broadcasts on Facebook and YouTube, and this year it’s planning to launch an interactive streaming shopping service, said Mike George, its president and CEO. The goal is to enable consumers to give feedback and to make purchases without leaving the stream, he said.

“Overall, we see that as an enormous opportunity for us,” George said. It’s a “very logical evolution of our business.”

So why is this catching on now? Like so many things, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated changes in behavior. The closing of retail shops to slow the virus pushed more people online. That incentivized companies to invest in e-commerce and web marketing. All the added competition boosted digital advertising expenses that before Covid were considered so high and unsustainable that online-only brands rushed to take out leases and open stores as a cheaper way to acquire customers.

Live selling in other markets has been successful at increasing how often a purchase is made because there’s more product information than traditional ads, and it’s often coming from a host consumers already know and trust. The shows can keep customers engaged for tens of minutes, even hours, thus increasing the chance to sell them more things.

Streaming also adds an emotional connection to online shopping, which can increase loyalty and peck away at one of the few advantages brick-and-mortar stores have with their sales staffs.

In one TalkShopLive show, a woman pitched her handmade bowls and blankets during a mountain camping trip, while making sure to respond to viewer comments in the online chat like they were friends. Some streamers in Asia are so popular that their fans show up nightly to watch.

“It’s a very personal interaction,” said David Barker, chief marketing officer at ReaderLink, North America’s largest distributor of books that has authors on TalkShopLive. “If you are just on Instagram or Twitter, it comes across very promotional.”


Roshanda Payne goes in depth on her makeup brand, Takeoff Beauty, during a 26-minute stream on TalkShopLive.


Hosts such as Viya in China might be where the rest of the world is headed. She’s sold cars, even homes, to her millions of fans. It’s all made possible by online ecosystems, like Alibaba, that operate the video stream, e-commerce, payment and delivery. Purchases are seamless with one click, so viewers never have to leave the show.

By comparison, buying online in the U.S. can still be clunky and disjointed, with its collection of payment networks, marketplaces and lenders. But companies are waking up for the need to blend e-commerce and social media-just look at the bidding war for TikTok. That’s why personalities like Viya are likely to emerge in the U.S., according to Weinswig.

“In the U.S., we’ll have our own version of this,” she said.

After Covid hit the U.S. in March, Stephen Zenter, a 36-year-old engineering manager in Houston, was stuck at home, but used TalkShopLive to take part in an album release party for singer Sara Evans. He asked another country entertainer, Karyn Rochelle, to sign the album he’d purchased. He also used it for mundane tasks, like querying an Illinois bakery about the ingredients in its banana bread.

“It’s fun just to log on and do the video chat with them,” Zenter said. “Being able to interact with the sellers is pretty cool."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×