Is live shopping the next big trend in the fashion industry?

Very few of the younger generation do teleshopping. But a similar form of shopping experience is currently recording record numbers, at least in China.

live–Shopping, also known as live commerce or live streaming e-commerce, is a new way of shopping. The moderators sell the products online in live streams to customers. The articles can be immediately via a button kaufen und the users can ask the hosts questions in the chat, which they answer almost in real time to get.

The trend towards live shopping originally comes from Asia, where this new way of shopping is already being used extensively. For example, live shopping events that last between six to eight hours take place on the Chinese video-sharing app Kuaishou. Everything from skin care and accessories to snacks is sold. Top live streamers in China are real stars with several million followers. For example, one of them is Xin Youzhi. Follow him on the app over 95.6 million accounts. The social media star even has his own company where he trains other streamers.

The live commerce market in China thrives on personalities like Xin Youzhi. Austin Li is also a very well-known e-commerce streamer in China. The 29-year-old was given the nickname “Lipstick King” or “Lipstick King”. He became known, among other things, because he sold lipsticks worth the equivalent of around 1.5 billion francs during a twelve-hour livestream event last year.

The Chinese company Alibaba has even launched its own app for live shopping. Taobao is live streaming and shopping from morning to night. The numbers for Taobao have been going through the roof since the pandemic. According to Alibaba, the company achieved a user increase of over 660 percent from 2019 to 2020.

Last year Taobao recorded transactions in the first 30 minutes of Singles Day worth the equivalent of around 6.9 billion Swiss francs. The app is a resounding success: in 2021 Taobao was one of the ten most visited websites in the world. Given these numbers, it is hardly surprising that the trend is slowly spilling over to Europe.

In our part of the world, too, people want to learn a bit from the success of live shopping. In December, Tiktok started its first live shopping event in England. You can also shop live on the website from Monki, a brand that is part of the H&M Group.

I.In the German-speaking area, a few brands are already relying on live commerce. For example the German brand About You. The clothing company hosted Live in the fall–Shopping–Events with celebrities like Bill Kaulitz, Lena-Meyer Landrut and Guido Maria Kretschmer. About You events last around 30 minutes. In the stream, for example, Lena-Meyer Landrut speaks in detail about sustainability bei her brand A Lot Less and answers questions from the chat.

This type of sale allows sellers to tell a story about their products. Events like this can also be practical for items of clothing, where there is often a lack of transparency, so that you can put your questions directly to the brand.

The social media apps in Europe are not yet ready to take part in live shopping. There is a shopping function on Instagram where a curated range of products can be bought. But the platforms in Europe are still a long way from real live shopping like in China. Companies like Ritzi want to close this gap with their offer.

At Ritzi, brands can dock to the existing infrastructure and live on their own sales channel via the app-SOrganize hopping events. «People want to discover and be entertained. This trend of shopatainment was additionally favored by the pandemic»says founder Kai Stubbe about the fashion platform «Textile industry».

Regarding 20 Minuten Lifestyle, founder Kai Stubbe said of the audience figures: “Since our launch this early summer, we’ve now had around 30 to 75 viewers per live stream.” Live is in German-speaking countries-Shopping so noch in the Infancy. Ob there is as much potential in it as in China, remains to be seen. Ritzi CEO Kai Stubbe is optimistic: “For the new year we expect a further significant increase in customers.”

There are therefore efforts to establish live shopping in the fashion industry in Europe as well. But whether the concept will generate a hype in this country as in China is rather questionable.