Agora, Inc. has announced it is expanding the availability of its livestream shopping technology as it aims to tap into growing appetite across the US for this form of retail.
In addition to shoppable livestreams, the firm said the solution will support live auctions, personal shopper experiences, and e-commerce-related video chat for customer service.
It comes on the back of a collaboration with live selling fashion platform, CommentSold, to provide multi-source live stream shopping meaning sellers can invite external participants into their shows by sending them a link or QR code. This could include celebrity guests or VIP customers.
Andrew Chen, Chief Product Officer at CommentSold said: ““We are absolutely thrilled to enable a paradigm shift in live selling with these features which will open up new ways for CommentSold sellers to gamify live selling shows and drive engagement,”
He added: “Now sellers can leverage professional hosts, celebrities and creators to co-host or host their live stream shopping events. Additionally, they can invite VIP customers to their live shows, further boosting interactivity, which eventually translates to higher sales for our sellers.”
According to McKinsey & Company, live-commerce-initiated sales could account for 20% of all e-commerce by 2026, and the US livestream shopping market is estimated to be worth $35 billion by 2024. A GlobalData report, in August, revealed that other parts of the world are experiencing a similar boom.
In China, livestream shopping was marked as a growing trend while the country continues to lead the global e-commerce market with expected $2.2 trillion sales in 2023.
