DIpil Das
Livestreaming Latest, December 2021
Live shopping has taken off during the pandemic and continues to pick up steam each month. The Coresight Research Livestreaming Latest series provides regular updates on the variety of approaches that are emerging around the world, across different retail sectors. We present recent market developments and discuss three trends we have seen in the livestreaming space recently. We also offer examples of notable livestreaming events.Recent Market Developments
- On November 1, 2021, Kiko Live, an Indian social commerce platform, raised $1 million as part of its Pre-Series A round from GSF Accelerator, a global venture capital fund, SOSV and Venture Catalysts, a leading Indian angel network. Founded in 2020, the startup enables local sellers to open online stores on the platform with the capability for a two-way interactive shopping experience, allowing customers to enter a shop virtually and engage with sellers.
- On November 5, 2021, Argentinian online marketplace Mercado Libre launched its livestream shopping service, “Mercado Live,” on its app. The live sessions are available daily and feature an array of products presented by influencers, sellers and brands’ sales associates. The platform launched with 100 brands and has established five filming studios.
- On November 9, 2021, American Express Ventures invested in live shopping provider Firework. The platform allows merchants to create short videos and livestreams with direct purchase features, and has established a grocery retail partnership with grocery giant Albertsons.
- On November 10, 2021, Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent announced that its social networks subsegment revenue increased by 7% year over year in the third quarter of 2021, reaching ¥30 billion ($4.7 billion). This reflects relatively rapid growth in video and music subscriptions and moderate growth in livestreaming and in-game item sales.
- On November 10, 2021, NBCUniversal announced live shopping events on Instagram and other platforms for the 2021 holiday season. Its first live show, “Impulse Try with Remi Bader,” allowed viewers to buy clothing featured during the livestream.
- On November 11, 2021, Indian short-video platform Moj partnered with e-commerce giant Flipkart to launch live commerce on its platform. The startup launched in July 2020, soon after TikTok was banned from India, and after rapid growth, Moj now has over 160 million monthly active users. The company says it intends to create a monetization model for creators on the Moj platform.
- On November 17, 2021, Douyin, the Chinese video-focused social networking platform known in international markets as TikTok, moved its mall feature to its central page, integrating shoppable products within its livestreaming and short video content—increasingly blurring the boundaries between entertainment and e-commerce. Viewers are now able to purchase items in the app, instead of through third-party channels.
- On November 22, 2021, online American travel and food network Tastemade launched two new sites: Tastemade Makers, which allows content creators to monetize their followings through subscription packages; and Tastemade Experiences, which enables creators to host ticketed live video sessions. The new programs allow creators to earn new revenue, engage with their fans in new ways and grow new audiences through the Tastemade network. The Tastemade platform has a global audience of more than 300 million active monthly viewers across all major digital, mobile and streaming platforms, according to the company.
Three Trends We’ve Seen Recently
1. Livestreaming Drives Engagement in Singles’ Day 2021 Compared with Singles’ Day transaction volumes in the past years, sales growth slowed for e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com during the shopping festival this year—in a tough regulatory context and against demanding comparatives from 2020. Nevertheless, livestream shopping remains a crucial tool for brands and retailers to drive sales during the event. With deals and exclusive products in categories from skin care to sports shoes, transaction volumes through livestreaming grew monumental on e-commerce and social media platforms such as Douyin, Taobao and Tmall.- In the build-up to Singles’ Day, from October 20 to November 11, Alibaba recorded total gross merchandise value (GMV) of $84.7 billion; revenues from live shopping surged due to new brands joining and initiatives emerging. Alibaba-owned e-commerce platform Tmall onboarded more than 100,000 brands for livestream sessions, and a new record 43 merchants topped ¥100 million ($15.7 million) in sales volume, according to the company. Top livestreaming influencer Austin Li pre-sold $1.9 billion in products in a marathon 12-hour livestream on the first day of pre-sale, attracting nearly 250 million viewers, Tmall reported. KOLs (key opinion leaders) such as Li continue to dominate livestreaming sales and influence consumers’ purchase decisions.
Austin Li’s record-breaking livestream Source: Tmall.com [/caption]
- Douyin stepped up its e-commerce efforts for Singles’ Day this year, offering merchants hefty sign-up incentives and bonuses to gain market share. According to the platform, merchants streamed nearly 25.5 million hours of live shopping sessions from October 27 to November 11, and Douyin’s live broadcast room was viewed 39.5 billion times in the same time frame. Domestic brands proved popular, with sales from China-based brands accounting for 87.5% of sales, according to the app’s “most-purchased items” ranking.
Chinese brand Herborist appealed to Chinese shoppers using live shopping sessions in traditional dress. Source: Douyin [/caption] 2. Social Media Platforms Launch Ambitious Holiday Livestreaming Schedules This holiday shopping season, social media platforms are competing to offer attractive live shopping capabilities. Following Facebook, Instagram and YouTube’s marathon livestream shopping sessions, Pinterest and Twitter are tapping into the rise of livestreaming. The purchases of many younger shoppers in particular are inspired and driven by social media—and holiday shopping is no different.
- On November 8, 2021, Pinterest deepened its involvement with social commerce ahead of the holiday season with the launch of its live shopping channel, Pinterest TV, hosting a series of live, original, shoppable videos on its app. This builds on its previous experiments with streaming: In October, the platform invested $20 million into a Creator Rewards program—an in-product creator monetization program and an expansion of its existing $500,000 Creator Fund. Pinterest also reported that during its three-day virtual shopping sessions in July, it received positive feedback from its users on new features, including shoppable pins that let creators tag and sell products to earn a cut of the profit.
Pinterest’s app (left) and Pinterest TV (right) Source: Pinterest [/caption]
- On November 28, 2021, Walmart became the first retailer to use Twitter’s new live shopping feature. Jason Derulo hosted the "Cyber Deals Sunday" event, which was also streamed on Walmart.com/live and the retailer's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube accounts. The show highlighted a variety items, from electronics, home goods, apparel to seasonal décor, and viewers were able to purchase the featured products through Twitter's Shop Tab during the show.
Musician Jason Derulo hosts Walmart’s live shopping session on Twitter Source: Walmart [/caption] 3. Mixing Up Formats Attracts New Viewers The trend of greater diversity in brands’ and retailers’ livestreaming offerings is strengthening: Offering a mixture of formats and categories in their live shopping schedules has become a prominent strategy for retailers, allowing them to retain a wider range of new customers and increase the number of repeat visits. Among the earliest adopters of this strategy, Walmart piloted a livestream fashion event on TikTok in December 2020, which netted seven times more viewers than expected and increased its TikTok follower base by 25%, according to the company. Recently, department stores such as Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue have offered several live sessions each week in different formats, from workshops with experts to inspirational talks from influencers.
- Since Nordstrom first launched its live shopping campaigns in March 2021, beauty tutorials and fashion inspiration videos have been gaining traction. However, its schedule now includes more product categories such as electronics, scent, footwear and fitness, as well as recurring events under specific topics including holiday series, self-care rituals and fashion stylings—aiming to drive loyal viewers to revisit the site.
Nordstrom’s various themed and recurring live shopping sessions Source: Company website [/caption]
- On November 2, 2021, Saks, the e-commerce business of US luxury department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue, announced a range of live shopping series on its online platform Saks Live over the holiday season. The livestreaming sessions feature a wide range of shoppable items and hosts drawn from its network of fashion and beauty experts.
Saks Live’s varied livestreams Source: Company website[/caption]
Other Notable Livestreaming Events
- On November 6 and 7, 2021, the American home-shopping television networks QVC and HSN staged 49 hours of nonstop live shopping programs on Facebook Live, TikTok, YouTube, their own app and Sling TV platforms. The networks intend to spur holiday shopping and further their reputation for advanced livestreaming offerings. The show, “Shop With Us Live,” was hosted by a cast of celebrities, influencers, fashion designers and chefs sharing their expertise and recommendations on the products.
- On November 3, 2021, Walmart teamed up with livestream shopping technology provider Buywith to promote exclusive holiday products through influencer-led live shopping sessions. Unlike sales-led campaigns, creator-led strategies connect with shoppers through educational product information and reviews. By funding branded creator programs and inserting themselves into the narrative, brands can extend their reach, particularly among Gen Z audiences.
LG live shopping session on Spanish website Source: Buywith [/caption]
- On November 3, 2021, American home-furnishing brand Wayfair launched Wayfair On Air, a live-video channel accessible through its app. The channel provides both recorded video segments and themed livestreaming series such as The Wayfair Rundown, a daily series that focuses on affordable, inspirational home merchandise. Shoppers can access exclusive discounts during the livestreams.
Wayfair’s new live shopping channel Source: Company website [/caption]
- On November 12, 2021, US toy conglomerate Hasbro launched its first livestream shopping event on its website, Instagram and Facebook Live channels. Tailored to the holiday gifting season, the event offered parents a glimpse into some popular toy items this year across Hasbro's lineup of brands, including NERF, My Little Pony, Peppa Pig and Play-Doh.
Backstage at Hasbro’s first live shopping event (left); Synchronized live session on Instagram, as of November 22, 2021 (right) Source: Toldright [/caption]
- On November 10, 2021, US startup social commerce platform Motom began its holiday campaigns on TikTok with social challenges and sharable holiday 2021 gift guides. The new social shopping platform distinguishes itself by enabling individuals to launch a centralized storefront on Motom so that all social posts from Instagram, TikTok and YouTube can be shared and shopped in minutes. It is also encouraging creators and social media users to give, get and give back for the holidays through a variety of initiatives such as donation to charitable associations.
- On November 10, 2021, German e-commerce company Otto expanded its livestreaming services on its website and app, following the success of its first live shopping session on October 6, 2021, which attracted 32,000 viewers. While the presenter demonstrated fashion and home décor products, viewers were able to place orders during the livestream.
Otto’s live shopping session on its app Source: Company website [/caption]
- On November 15, 2021, YouTube expanded its involvement in live shopping with its week-long "YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop.” So far, influencers (including the Merrell Twins) have shared their picks from Samsung, Verizon and Walmart. The live shopping sessions enable viewers to browse products, access offers and interact with creators.
- On November 19, 2021, US subscription streaming service Hulu, owned by The Walt Disney Company, announced an exclusive 2000’s vintage apparel collection to coincide with its docuseries, The Curse of Von Dutch: A Brand to Die For. In collaboration with Los Angeles merchandise store Rcnstrct, the collection dropped through the NTWRK livestreaming platform with a range of Von Dutch trucker hats, as well as Juicy Couture sweatsuits, True Religion jeans and Ed Hardy T-shirts.
- On November 23, 2021, Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch presented the second of its POG Picks live shopping events, aiming to give viewers shopping inspiration for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Produced by Twitch’s in-house brand partnership studio, viewers competed in various mini games to win or purchase the products featured during the livestreaming.
Twitch’s first POG Picks live shopping event Source: Twitch [/caption]
- On November 25, 2021, Charles Zhang, Founder and CEO of search engine and multi-media advertising firm Sohu.com, launched his own livestreaming series, “Charles Zhang’s Physics Class,” held every Friday and Sunday. With a PhD in experimental physics from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Zhang used livestreaming services on the Sohu app to share his in-depth knowledge with high-school students. There are strong opportunities for livestreaming focused on knowledge-sharing as this trend grows.
Charles Zhang’s first live session on physics for high school students Source: Company website [/caption]
What We Think
The proliferation of livestream shopping offerings on e-commerce platforms, apps and social media underlines the channel’s effectiveness as an engagement tool for connecting with consumers. It is clear that by investing in live shopping, brands and retailers will gain an opportunity to stand out from their competition and forge a deeper connection with their customers. Implications for Brands and Retailers- Retailers should lean into the data advantages of livestream shopping. As live shopping continues to evolve, it is critical to analyze and target consumers precisely and cost effectively while also creating engaging online experiences.
- As more companies explore new avenues to sell to online audiences, marketers should use livestreams to influence consumers’ shopping journeys. Brands can thus foster a durable sense of community and trust among the target consumers that is more valuable in the long term than the livestream sales themselves.