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Will livestream shopping take off in the U.S.?

Written by Tom Ryan

"When our clients drink MommyGO - Happy Mommy was live 2 days ago" - Source: Amazon Live

Livestream shopping is seeing explosive growth in Asia, and numerous platforms have launched similar experiences in the U.S. For those not familiar, livestream resembles home shopping services, such as on QVC, that already upload shows for online viewers. Special promotions lasting until the end of the video create a sense of urgency, similar to shopping on television. One difference with livestream is the high level of interactivity. When watching in real time, shoppers can comment and ask questions. Another factor driving the phenomenon in Asia is the popularity of influencers hosting the events. In Asia, live shopping shows from Alibaba and JD.com boosted Single’s Day results. Micro influencers are also increasingly using their own platforms to independently hawk brands and earn a cut. In some cases, viewings are streamed from inside stores as influencers shop at inner city shops from the U.S. Many introduce the manager or owner. [caption id="attachment_95019" align="aligncenter" width="666"]Will livestream shopping take off in the U.S.? "Happy National Pet Day!
Manuka Honey Talk with Nature’s Gold was live 6 days ago" - Source: Amazon Live[/caption] “Livestreaming in China is basically QVC on steroids,” Liz Flora, the editor of APAC research at Gartner L2, told Digiday last year. “There’s more blurring between commerce, social media and entertainment in China, as social platforms encroach on commerce.” Livestreaming’s strong appeal in China has been set off by a thirst for Western brands and comfort with purchasing luxury brands from third-party sellers. In the U.S., Wayfair last week introduced its first livestreaming event to support its 36-hour “Way Day” sales event. In February, Amazon launched Amazon Live, which features Amazon employees broadcasting from a studio or streams paid for by brands that run across the Amazon website or app. "Livestreaming has helped increase daily visits to our product detail page by 5x and significantly grew our sales," stated card game manufacturer Watch Ya’Mouth on Amazon Live brand information page. Livestreaming may be led by ShopShops, Streamlist, Shoclef, Livby and others that have recently rolled out platforms in the U.S. to help retailers, brands and influencers tap livestream shopping.

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