Live Shopping; the newest trend in e-commerce

Live-stream shopping is the next big thing to enter the world of e-commerce, already evolving from a billion-dollar industry in China.

What is Live shopping?
A first truly dynamic experience for online shopping, the platform allows you to purchase items on sale during a live display of the same. So influencers and sellers demonstrate/endorse a product to a live audience who can instantly buy the products.

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Where did it start from?
The story started in 2016, when Alibaba launched Taobao Live for the Chinese market. Evoking the teleshopping concept that marked the 90s and early 2000s Taobao Live soared in popularity. By 2018, the platform reached $15 billion in sales, signalling a 400% growth.

Going big with Live Shopping
Mega brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Douglas and Walmart have already adopted the trend, not to mention giants like Amazon and Facebook. McKinsey predicts that live shopping sales could account for as much as 10-20% of all global ecommerce by 2026.

YouTube will host a weeklong livestreaming event, called Holiday Stream and Shop, where select social media stars will sell their own merchandise and brand name products directly on the platform.

Growing market in India
Hoping to expand a large audience especially an older age group that have been on the fence about online shopping. Flipkart-owned online fashion portal Myntra has started testing influencer-led live online shopping on its platform. Other startups like Bulbul and Simsim (now acquired by YouTube) have tried replicating this model. Last month, InMobi's Glance-owned Roposo also pivoted to the live commerce model.

But who helps these platforms for Live-Streaming?

Bengaluru-based startup, Baaz allows people to experience the thrill that people were severely deprived of with the help of its superior technology.

With over 50+ customers across fashion, lifestyle, beauty, and books categories, it helps retail stores host live video shows to showcase products or collections, manage inventory, answer live customer questions, and collect secure and instant payments.

Launched just before the pandemic, ''I came up with this idea when my wife faced technical issues during her virtual shopping'' said Chitresh Parihar, Founder and CEO of Baaz.