Livestream shopping brings in billions a year for China, but the U.S. has yet to see success from the trend.
Key Details
- Some 74% of Chinese consumers say they bought products from a shoppable livestream in 2022.
- While 78% of U.S. consumers say they’ve never watched a shoppable livestream, according to a survey by Coresight Research.
- In China, livestream shopping had a market value of around $500 billion in 2022.
- The livestream shopping space is so large within the country that boot camps are created for people who want to get into the career.
Why it’s news
Livestream shopping is a huge profit market in China, bringing in billions each year, but the popularity hasn’t hit the U.S. yet, with the majority of American consumers saying they’ve never seen a shoppable livestream.
Shoppable livestreams have skyrocketed in popularity in China. Sellers and influencers will start a livestream video showing products live, and consumers can bid on the items or purchase them outright.
In China, livestream shopping had a market value of around $500 billion in 2022.
Many of the livestreams are for products such as clothes, shoes, and other items, but TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is testing a livestream food-delivery service on its Chinese TikTok platform Douyin allowing people to buy food from livestream services.
China held a 2020 Singles’ Day shopping festival featuring numerous shoppable livestreams. In just 30 minutes during the festival, livestream platform Taobao processed $7.5 billion in transactions, according to The Hustle.
During the shopping festival in 2021, a popular livestream influencer Viya sold $1 billion worth of products on a livestream. The profession has become so popular in China that the country holds boot camps for those seeking to join the market.
The popularity hasn’t reached the U.S. yet, with most consumers saying they have never watched a shoppable livestream.
74% of Chinese consumers said they bought products from a shoppable livestream in 2022, while 78% of U.S. consumers said they’ve never watched a shoppable livestream, according to a survey by Coresight Research.
Many social media sites, including Instagram, have dropped their shopping features, but other platforms are adding shopping features, so it is possible that livestream shopping could gain popularity in the U.S. in the upcoming years.
Live shopping startup WhatNot has been gaining popularity in the U.S., gaining over $485 million in funding.