This E-Commerce Platform Connects Retailers Directly With Customers Via Live Streaming

Shopping from the comfort of home is nothing new. 

People have been buying products from HSN, formerly known as Home Shopping Network, since 1977. The pioneering electronic retailer sells thousands of products through its shows, which are broadcast 24 hours a day on cable, satellite and network TV.

Fast forward to 1995, when Amazon opened its doors as an online bookseller and became one of the first e-commerce sites in the U.S. to sell products online.

Thousands of businesses have followed since, and online shopping became even more popular — if not a necessity — early in the global coronavirus pandemic when people were forced to stay at home.

Now retailers are taking it a step further and live streaming shopping events on platforms like Verb Technology Co. Inc.’s VERB MARKET, a new social shopping livestream and e-commerce platform that merges live entertainment and shopping.

“It’s a destination where people can go and see hundreds of retailers at any moment that could broadcast live and showcase their products and services,” Verb CEO Rory Cutaia said. “Every retailer has a storefront. MARKET represents the true convergence of entertainment and shopping.”

Livestream shopping originated in China, where sales are expected to reach $480 billion this year, according to eMarketer.

Homebody Economy?

In the U.S., livestream e-commerce was expected to generate $11 billion in online sales in the United States in 2021, according to Statista. By 2024, e-commerce revenue from live online shopping is expected to increase threefold, reaching $35 billion.

Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL YouTube is the most popular platform for livestream e-commerce in the U.S. with 30.2% of the market share, followed by Meta Platform Inc.’s FB Facebook Live with 29.2%, Instagram Live with 28.9% and Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN Amazon Live with 20.7%.

“People are tuning in to watch livestream shopping in greater numbers than watching traditional television shows,” Cutaia said. “People are selling over $100 million of merchandise in a single livestream.”

Verb says it will officially launch the MARKET platform during Shopfest, a three-day interactive livestream shopping festival featuring some of America’s hottest brands. Shopfest is scheduled for July 26-28.

Among the more than 30 brands Shopfest will feature are luxury fashion brands such as Halston, jewelry from Judith Ripka and home and collectibles brand Longaberger.

Shopfest also is an opportunity for consumers to give back. Shoppers can donate directly in the livestream shopping experience or round up purchases to the next dollar, with all proceeds going to Good360, which sources essential goods and distributes them through its network of nonprofits to support people in need.

RSVP to Shopfest to participate in the event cash giveaways and other prize drawings at https://shopfest.market.live.

Learn more about Verb Technology Co. Inc. here.

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Featured photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash