Live shopping isn’t coming—it’s already here

There’s no true equivalent to Taobao Live in America, and so the U.S. is still playing catch-up.

It's a digital age QVC but with the added FOMO that the other thousand viewers could buy out the stock before you get there. Driven by a fear of counterfeit goods and a demand for experiential retail, viewers love the instant gratification of seeing the product in action then immediately buying it. The backdrop to the buying frenzy is a holistic e-... See more

“That was the moment we realized that livestreaming was going to change everything,” Yuan said. “We were literally dealing with hundreds of customers, just three of us, addressing each customer’s sizing concern and questions.”