Live shopping

What is live shopping?

In China, it is a $500 billion market. In the US, it is set to grow fivefold from 2020 to 2026[1]. Live shopping is one of the fastest-growing trends in e-commerce today. It involves promoting products and services to a live online audience and allowing merchants around the world to engage their customers, build their brands and increase their sales to today’s young, always-on consumers.

Parents shopping online on laptop while looking at daughter having breakfast in dining room

Don’t miss out.

Driven by Alibaba and other social media platforms, live streaming has grown exponentially in China and now represents almost 20% of all e-commerce[2]. In other countries, tech giants such as Amazon, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are developing platforms for live shopping and are actively courting influencers[3]. Major retailers have run live stream events with charismatic hosts in the US, using formats such as product tutorials, behind-the-scenes videos and celebrity interviews, complete with games, quizzes and giveaways for viewers.
 

How merchants benefit.

Live shopping is a fun and compelling way to connect to consumers, increase engagement and deepen customer relationships. Live shopping is suitable for a broad range of use cases, companies in sectors such as fashion, beauty, home decoration consumer electronics are using the format to enhance their brand appeal, especially to Gen Z[4]. A report by Klarna found that 38% of shoppers preferred the experience to traditional e-commerce[5]. L’Oréal saw a 300% increase in sales in one hour of live shopping compared to one day of ecommerce activity. And Livescale reports that live shopping can increase brand sales by 3 to 6 times and customer acquisition rates up to 40%.
 

Cultural challenges.

Will Live shopping become successful as it is in China also in the rest of the world? For now live shopping has not yet reached the same heights and it is still in the experimentation stage. Tests by early pioneers have shown that it’s critical to adopt a live shopping strategy that allows to connect with the consumers and create relevance to the markets served. Moreover, due to the different shopping behaviour, it’s important to consider how live shopping connects with the current customer journey in order to deliver a differentiating and pleasant customer experience..

Solutions & who we serve

Worldline has partnered with Livescale to boost the global adoption of live shopping. The partnership combines Livescale’s embeddable Live Shopping software with Worldline’s connected checkouts, increasing e-commerce sales conversion rates and allowing consumers to complete payment for their purchase while staying in the live video experience.

Further resources

Find out more

Leila Van-Herbert

Sales Team Lead Specialty Retail, Global Sales Vertical, Worldline
Leila is a passionate payments expert and leader with over ten years of experience in the payments industry having worked across multiple verticals and payments geographies. Working with a customer centric approach, Leila can distil complex payments requirements and drive specific customer led outcomes to simplify the payments journey and enhance the customer experience through a consultative sales approach. By delivering dedicated and structured account and relationship management, Leila is able to build strong client engagement, drive innovative solutions and leverage data-based decision making to deliver clear revenue outcomes both at an individual and team level.
Go to all Leila's articles

Jie Xue

Product Innovation Manager, Solution & Innovation, Worldline
As Product Manager Innovations at Worldline, Jie focuses on understanding emerging trends and their intersections with digital payments, with a consumer-driven approach. She leads various innovation initiatives at Worldline where she helps translate these market needs into proof-of-concepts or innovative product offerings, in areas such as video gaming and retail. Prior to Worldline, Jie has worked in startup and innovations space in Europe and China. She shares a passion for tech and emerging markets.
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[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2022/01/22/livestream-shopping-a-500-billion-market-in-2022-as-amazon-google-facebook-tiktok-jump-in/?sh=360964613bc5 https://coresight.com/research/coresight-bites-livestreaming-e-commerce-gains-ground-in-the-us/

[2] https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/livestreaming-commerce-phenomenon-us/

[3] https://www.ft.com/content/7a7766aa-11d7-4f9d-a440-79841fee7c09 https://www.ft.com/content/3ad7595b-557d-4086-a01e-be5d54b28b45

[4] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/its-showtime-how-live-commerce-is-transforming-the-shopping-experience

[5] https://www.klarna.com/assets/sites/2/2021/06/29084219/The-State-of-Smoooth-Klarnas-2021-Reopening-Insights-Report-min.pdf