Live commerce accelerates

Beekman 1802, which Glossy deemed a “livestream shopping behemoth,” is a case study for the potential of livestreamed retail. The beauty and lifestyle brand partnered with livestream platform Livescale in April 2021. Sales during their first Livsecale event, the 60-minute “Blooming Skin Show,” were 400% higher than what Beekman 1802’s ecommerce site experiences in a 24-hour sales period, according to Madison Schill, head of communications at Livescale.

The key, Beekman 1802 cofounder Brent Ridge explained, is in the storytelling. “We’re not saying the same story over and over again; we have a multi-layered story that can continue to captivate the customer. The longer you captivate them, the more likely they are to stick around and actually buy a product,” said Ridge. “Probably 80% of getting someone to make a purchase on livestream shopping or TV is about getting them to stop and listen.”

The latest livestream platform launches are also leading with storytelling. Shopflix, launched on June 9, 2021, offers shoppable video content “where brands can tell their stories.” Matt Matros, Shopflix cofounder, explains that “Shopflix is content first, commerce second, which helps the brand-consumer relationship go deeper than the transaction by providing an engaging story.” Live shopping enterprise Orca, which was formally unveiled in June 2021, believes that “shopping can be entertainment.”