Live online shopping is giving some businesses a big boost.
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In less than half an hour, Justin Frederickson auctions off more than 100 collectible comic books through the live shopping app “Whatnot.”
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“You can move a lot more product quickly,” Frederickson said.
Especially on an otherwise quiet Monday in his real-world comic store in Brooklyn.
“Whatnot,” sometimes described as QVC meets social media, launched in 2019.
“It combines again, a lot of the greatest parts about shopping: having this really interpersonal connectivity and do that from the comfort of your home.” Amanda Wilson, vice president of categories and expansion at Whatnot, said.
Wilson said they’ve seen traffic explode.
On average, users spend more than 80 minutes a day watching livestreams, and that translates to dollar signs.
“This year alone, we’ve surpassed over $6 billion in live sales,” Wilson said.
It’s big on TikTok.
Major American retailers are also looking to cash in on livestream commerce, which originated in Asia but is still only a sliver of the US market.
Frederickson and his wife credit their stream sales for helping them open a brick-and-mortar store earlier this year.
Despite some of the optimism around live shopping, in 2022, Meta pulled the plug on the feature on Facebook.
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