September 5, 2025
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Can Walmart Compete Against Whatnot and TikTok Shop as the Live Shopping Segment Grows?
Live shopping is exciting, experiential, and personalized to some degree, with shoppers able to converse back and forth with sellers (and one another) while snagging must-have items in real time. And now, as Retail Touchpoints reporter Nicole Silberstein outlined, Walmart appears to be slowly easing its way further into the live shopping segment.
Beefing up its ongoing Walmart Live roster to include the WeTheHobby community, which independently produces 35 hours of entertainment and live shopping — largely centered around sports cards and memorabilia — the blue-and-yellow brand is bolstering its existing lineup. This is an enhancement or expansion of a previous partnership with WeTheHobby.
Collectibles represent a critical and exciting area of investment and growth for Walmart,” said Mayank Hajela, GM of collectibles at Walmart U.S. “With demand continuing to surge, we’re committed to building experiences that not only serve collectors but redefine what they expect from us. Collector’s Night is a powerful step forward in making Walmart a true destination for this growing category.”
Further, Walmart already has its own associates lead some live selling sessions (under the Associates LIVE tag), while also pulling hosts from a variety of influencer and celebrity categories, including Drew Barrymore last year.
Walmart Has Room To Grow Before Matching Established Players in TikTok Shop and Whatnot
For once, Walmart is the upstart in a segment, with its live shopping capabilities still lagging well behind the customer base and infrastructure enjoyed by major competitors TikTok Shop and Whatnot.
Per a December 2024 Modern Retail report, TikTok Shop was on target to reach $17.5 billion in U.S. gross merchandise sales last year, and Whatnot pulled down $2 billion in the period spanning January through September.
And that market is rapidly expanding: According to TikTok Shop itself, U.S. sales have more than doubled (up 120%) so far in 2025 versus year-ago levels. TikTok shop also expanded into Brazil, Mexico, and European markets. According to Fortune, Whatnot ended up clearing $3 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2024, and projects it will double that figure to reach $6 billion this year.
Walmart Live sales figures remain scarce, although its landing page reveals that sales are relatively brief and infrequent — a distinct difference from the multitude of sellers, categories, and products available on TikTok Shop and Whatnot on a 24/7 basis. That’s a likely pain point for the retail giant if it wishes to seriously compete in the emerging live shopping segment.
Live Shopping Sees Opportunities and Challenges for Retailers of All Sizes
Modern, internet-based live shopping might remain in a nascent stage, particularly stateside as compared to the more-established Chinese market, but a few pros and cons are already emerging.
Modern Retail cited celebrity hairstylist Sarah Potempa, responsible for the Beachwaver brand, on the subject of community and personal touch as key benefits of the live shopping experience.
“We have so many people in the livestream, and so many people who comment on social media who have become truly, honestly like part of a family,” Potempa said.
“We know so much about them that we celebrate the wins, and we cry with them on their losses, like they really are very actively involved in the community,” she added.
On other hand, operational costs attached to working within the U.S. marketplace are substantially greater than those in China. According to SuperOrdinary CEO Julian Reis, studio real estate and production equipment — in addition to local production teams — can quickly eat into profits. The company is currently establishing 15 studios within a sprawling Los Angeles complex as it aims to reproduce its massive successes in the live commerce space in China.
“The human labor cost in the U.S. is much higher than in Asia. and our actual input cost of producing a live stream is much higher,” Reis said. “Those two factors together, it’s obviously a little bit more challenging.”
BrainTrust
Anil Patel
Founder & CEO, HotWax Commerce
Doug Garnett
President, Protonik
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Can Walmart seriously compete against established players in the live shopping space such as TikTok Shop and Whatnot? What improvements or investments would it have to make in order to so?
Would it be wise for retailers to form their own internal live shopping platforms, as Walmart has, or instead opt for partnerships with the most prominent and successful brand vendors?
Will live shopping see a continued doubling of growth in the U.S. over the course of the next few years? Why or why not?
Poll
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Walmart has the money and scale to push live shopping – and it will generate sales as a result. But the real question is whether it can win where live is sticky: namely with younger shoppers and discovery-driven missions. On both fronts, Walmart currently trails rivals. TikTok commands youth attention and its platform is better suited to finding niche and emerging brands. Unless Walmart cracks these things, it will play in live commerce, but it won’t lead it.
Live shopping is a Gen Z game, where Walmart currently has a lot of ground to cover to catch up with TikTok. But they’ve begun the work with moves that include a K-Pop mobile pop-up store to spread Gen Zs awareness of the Walmart+ program. If they can get some momentum started with younger shoppers, their brick and mortar advantage used in concert with live shopping could help them compete, or even beat TikTok in future.
TikTok Shop and Whatnot succeed because they’ve built entertainment-first platforms where commerce feels incidental, and Walmart Live feels like traditional retail with a camera bolted on. Will live shopping as we know it today still matter in three years? We’re heading toward contextual commerce where the interface adapts to the moment: autonomous agents for routine purchases, live experts for discovery, and hybrid experiences for everything in between.
Instead of chasing TikTok’s entertainment model, they should leverage their logistics advantage to build the infrastructure layer that powers agent-driven commerce. Let TikTok handle the discovery theater—Walmart should own the fulfillment reality. Retailers (and brands) that become indispensable to the AI agents will increasingly mediate our shopping decisions. Data quality (clean, rich, and standardized) becomes existential, and when combined with inventory accuracy and transparency, it becomes the only moat that matters when algorithms do the browsing.
Does Walmart need to lead live-shopping to be profitable in the channel?
Walmart is older company than Amazon or TikTok but doing well by shaping its ecosystem with taking on better parts of the others. The storefront challengers Target & Costco, is where Walmart cannot afford to slip.
Walmart trying & testing live channel is the good sign. When timing & corp investment is right, they have a base to push forward from (& competitive learnings). In a rocky, bifurcated US economy… their current aim is repeated appeal to all consumer economic levels. Youngest/GenZ included.
We’ll see in 4Q if Walmart stays safe or adds some trendiness… to reach all from the grandparents to time-stretched adults to teen social life. If tariff & supply chain volatility calms down, maybe more channel experimentation is near.
I find the question to be wrong. Walmart doesn’t need to “compete” here. The question should be: What can Walmart gain by becoming active in live shopping? Throughout live shopping’s history, it has often proved to be excellent long form communication introducing goods to small segments. It makes sense to me that Walmart would like to leverage this opportunity. Does it matter how they relate to TikTok or WhatsApp in doing this? To my mind, not really. Walmart must, as we all must, consider only the opportunity as it matters within their business. That said, there is not major money for Walmart in Live Shopping (based on my past experience) so the only reason to pursue the option is for added benefits affecting the rest of their mix.
In China, live shopping drives nearly a third of e-commerce, showing its potential. The U.S. hasn’t followed that trajectory yet, which leaves white space. For Walmart to compete with TikTok and Whatnot, success depends less on platform build and more on creator ecosystems and consumer confidence, the levers that fueled growth overseas
Walmart’s live shopping push shows ambition but scale is the challenge. TikTok Shop and Whatnot thrive because they deliver nonstop content, community, and entertainment. Walmart will not catch up with occasional streams. It needs to invest in frequency, storytelling, and integration with its stores and loyalty program to build something distinct.
For retailers in general, the lesson is simple. Live shopping works when it feels constant and connected. Building your own platform only makes sense if you can commit to content and community at scale. Otherwise partnering with platforms customers already use is the smarter move. The clear takeaway is that success in live shopping comes from consistency, not experiments.
Well said, and isn’t consistency and brand focus the key to success in most endeavors? I only learned about Whatnot from this article, so clearly there’s plenty of runway remaining for creators / channels to get established and find their niches. (But then, I’m 56 so what do I know?)
Walmart can compete in live shopping, but TikTok Shop and Whatnot already have massive momentum. To close the gap, Walmart needs to expand beyond occasional events, invest in creators, scale frequency, improve interactivity, and strengthen fraud controls.
For retailers, building in-house platforms offers control and integration, while partnerships deliver reach and speed. A hybrid approach—own channel plus presence on social platforms—makes the most sense for larger players like Walmart.
As for growth, live shopping in the U.S. will continue to expand rapidly, but the doubling we’ve seen won’t sustain indefinitely. Expect strong, though moderating, growth as adoption matures and the market evolves.
The real question should be “Should Walmart seriously compete against established players in the live shopping space, such as TikTok Shop and Whatnot? “
The structures of the two types of business are so different, particularly in scale and competence, that they will never and should never meet. I predict Walmart will find it is more trouble than it is worth.
Walmart wants Gen Z and keeps investing in innovations that adapt to and connect with this elusive cohort. While TikTok Shop has a massive headstart, Walmart’s scale, deep pockets and teachability make it a worthy rival in the live shopping space. This tenacity will pay off.
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Walmart has the money and scale to push live shopping – and it will generate sales as a result. But the real question is whether it can win where live is sticky: namely with younger shoppers and discovery-driven missions. On both fronts, Walmart currently trails rivals. TikTok commands youth attention and its platform is better suited to finding niche and emerging brands. Unless Walmart cracks these things, it will play in live commerce, but it won’t lead it.
Live shopping is a Gen Z game, where Walmart currently has a lot of ground to cover to catch up with TikTok. But they’ve begun the work with moves that include a K-Pop mobile pop-up store to spread Gen Zs awareness of the Walmart+ program. If they can get some momentum started with younger shoppers, their brick and mortar advantage used in concert with live shopping could help them compete, or even beat TikTok in future.
TikTok Shop and Whatnot succeed because they’ve built entertainment-first platforms where commerce feels incidental, and Walmart Live feels like traditional retail with a camera bolted on. Will live shopping as we know it today still matter in three years? We’re heading toward contextual commerce where the interface adapts to the moment: autonomous agents for routine purchases, live experts for discovery, and hybrid experiences for everything in between.
Instead of chasing TikTok’s entertainment model, they should leverage their logistics advantage to build the infrastructure layer that powers agent-driven commerce. Let TikTok handle the discovery theater—Walmart should own the fulfillment reality. Retailers (and brands) that become indispensable to the AI agents will increasingly mediate our shopping decisions. Data quality (clean, rich, and standardized) becomes existential, and when combined with inventory accuracy and transparency, it becomes the only moat that matters when algorithms do the browsing.
Does Walmart need to lead live-shopping to be profitable in the channel?
Walmart is older company than Amazon or TikTok but doing well by shaping its ecosystem with taking on better parts of the others. The storefront challengers Target & Costco, is where Walmart cannot afford to slip.
Walmart trying & testing live channel is the good sign. When timing & corp investment is right, they have a base to push forward from (& competitive learnings). In a rocky, bifurcated US economy… their current aim is repeated appeal to all consumer economic levels. Youngest/GenZ included.
We’ll see in 4Q if Walmart stays safe or adds some trendiness… to reach all from the grandparents to time-stretched adults to teen social life. If tariff & supply chain volatility calms down, maybe more channel experimentation is near.
I find the question to be wrong. Walmart doesn’t need to “compete” here. The question should be: What can Walmart gain by becoming active in live shopping? Throughout live shopping’s history, it has often proved to be excellent long form communication introducing goods to small segments. It makes sense to me that Walmart would like to leverage this opportunity. Does it matter how they relate to TikTok or WhatsApp in doing this? To my mind, not really. Walmart must, as we all must, consider only the opportunity as it matters within their business. That said, there is not major money for Walmart in Live Shopping (based on my past experience) so the only reason to pursue the option is for added benefits affecting the rest of their mix.
In China, live shopping drives nearly a third of e-commerce, showing its potential. The U.S. hasn’t followed that trajectory yet, which leaves white space. For Walmart to compete with TikTok and Whatnot, success depends less on platform build and more on creator ecosystems and consumer confidence, the levers that fueled growth overseas
Walmart’s live shopping push shows ambition but scale is the challenge. TikTok Shop and Whatnot thrive because they deliver nonstop content, community, and entertainment. Walmart will not catch up with occasional streams. It needs to invest in frequency, storytelling, and integration with its stores and loyalty program to build something distinct.
For retailers in general, the lesson is simple. Live shopping works when it feels constant and connected. Building your own platform only makes sense if you can commit to content and community at scale. Otherwise partnering with platforms customers already use is the smarter move. The clear takeaway is that success in live shopping comes from consistency, not experiments.
Well said, and isn’t consistency and brand focus the key to success in most endeavors? I only learned about Whatnot from this article, so clearly there’s plenty of runway remaining for creators / channels to get established and find their niches. (But then, I’m 56 so what do I know?)
Walmart can compete in live shopping, but TikTok Shop and Whatnot already have massive momentum. To close the gap, Walmart needs to expand beyond occasional events, invest in creators, scale frequency, improve interactivity, and strengthen fraud controls.
For retailers, building in-house platforms offers control and integration, while partnerships deliver reach and speed. A hybrid approach—own channel plus presence on social platforms—makes the most sense for larger players like Walmart.
As for growth, live shopping in the U.S. will continue to expand rapidly, but the doubling we’ve seen won’t sustain indefinitely. Expect strong, though moderating, growth as adoption matures and the market evolves.
The real question should be “Should Walmart seriously compete against established players in the live shopping space, such as TikTok Shop and Whatnot? “
The structures of the two types of business are so different, particularly in scale and competence, that they will never and should never meet. I predict Walmart will find it is more trouble than it is worth.
Walmart wants Gen Z and keeps investing in innovations that adapt to and connect with this elusive cohort. While TikTok Shop has a massive headstart, Walmart’s scale, deep pockets and teachability make it a worthy rival in the live shopping space. This tenacity will pay off.