In-Stream Shopping Options: Exploration in the US Market

Living in China in the past few years, live-stream shopping has already become one of the most common and significant ways to shop online. It is popular not only among Gen-Z but also Millennials and even Gen-X. Near 45% of internet users in China participated in live-stream shopping in 2022. In 2021, the total number of viewers of Taobao Live already exceed over 50 billion. Such huge numbers!

That’s why I was astonished to know that live-stream was not popular outside China. In the digital world nowadays, online shopping has become an unstoppable trend, and live-stream shopping is cheap, efficient, focused, and engaged with consumers compared to traditional online shopping. I have never doubted that live-stream shopping will continue to develop around the world until I read the news.

Instagram announced the removal of live-stream shopping elements on Feb. 14, and Facebook had already pulled out of live shopping in August last year.

According to a report from SocialMediaToday,

Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram — virtually every app has tried its hand at live-stream shopping, but none of them have caught on in the same way as their Chinese counterparts.
And now, as Meta looks to cut costs, and streamline its operations, it’s moving on completely from the process.

It seems like Meta has made up its mind to quit the area of live-stream shopping. That means this way of shopping has not captured enough consumers and revenues. I can’t help but wonder why the trends are so different in and outside China.

Why not in the US?

A blog from SJ Petteruti has already done a complete analysis of this topic. In his blog, he mentioned that there are three main reasons.

First, the US live-stream shopping is not produced well enough.

…too many U.S.-based live streams feature the face of the “influencer” sitting in an underwhelming environment (like their closet) and not showing enough about the products.

Second, US live-stream shopping is not consumer-centric enough.

In live-stream shopping, it is important to build connections with consumers. Live streamers should look like they are on “the consumers’ side” instead of “the companies’ side”. People are willing to listen to others who are similar to themselves.

Last, US live-stream shopping is not interactive enough.

Livestream shopping’s roots may be in TV infomercials, but it isn’t the same kind of one-way communication channel. It’s an opportunity to engage in a dialog with the audience, and give them the interactive experience they’re looking for.
…
Adding more participation-based events into the production is a good start toward cultivating a sense of wonder and helping make live streaming more memorable.

Other than these three reasons, another important factor is that consumers like a simple and short path when purchasing.

In China, the platforms are integrated and easy to jump from one to another. In the US, however, things could be more complicated.

What’s next?

Though social apps are quitting the live-stream shopping area. It is still a pity to give up such a huge market. Is there any middle ground between developing and quitting? I guess the answer is yes.

On Feb. 16, it was reported that TikTok continues to push ahead with its in-stream commerce initiatives.

The in-stream shopping flow includes a shop overview and a direct purchase flow, all within the app itself, as opposed to the regular TikTok shop process, which reverts users to the retailers’ website to convert.

This already gained huge success on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin. As people tend to use TikTok as a search engine, this might also work and help TikTok to increase its traffic and income. Also, this provides a shorter way to purchase for consumers.

How will the purchase methods develop further? Let’s wait and see.