What Products do well for Livestream Selling

A recent McKinsey study predicted that up to 20% of e-commerce will be initiated by livestream selling by 2026. A different study from Bain Consulting says it’s already 20% in Southeast Asia: One in five dollars spent on online retail in Southeast Asia now happens through social media!

China is the pioneer here, with $423B in revenue happening through livestream selling in 2022 and a tremendous growth rate over the past 5 years:

More than 1 in 3 Chinese internet users have purchased from a livestream sale already.

Apparel and fashion is the biggest category (36%) for live sales in China.

We are seeing that among our SoldLive customers as well. Clothing and jewelry are the clear pioneers of Americans who do live sales on Facebook. Brands in these categories take advantage of live shopping’s ability to offer a visual of their products, demonstrate their use and methods of styling.

They’re not the only category that can benefit from live shopping though—a recent Coresight survey found that 41.2% of consumers said they tune in to livestreams focused on home products (such as home furnishings), and 37.5% said they watch live shopping events for electronics.

In terms of the types of products within these categories that do well in lives, the article notes that live sales are all about impulse purchases. So product launches tend to do well via seasonal marketing campaigns and exclusive or special deals only shown or introduced through a live sale. To trigger impulse purchases, products need to look good on small screens and be positioned as good value for the money.