Tophatter is bringing gamified commerce to the U.S.

While this motivation may be latent—even subconscious, for most—in the U.S., it’s an economic driver that’s well understood in China, fueling a thriving video ecommerce market. In Asia, the powerful force of video entertainment shopping has spawned a livestream ecommerce industry akin to professional movie production. It’s more than a place where a... See more

For The New Optimists, livestreaming will continue to be a dominant shopping option. Why? This is a highly social, on-the-go group, and livestream allows them to interact and shop virtually anywhere. This form of conversational commerce is mainstream in China (livestream shopping generated $4.4bn in sales in 2018), Japan, Southeast Asia and South K... See more

In the US, dominant platforms typically have just two out of the three: Amazon is a wealth of commerce and content related to products, Tik Tok has community and content—but it’s rare to successfully integrate all three elements (they require very distinct DNA to do well!). Successful case studies include Glossier and Food52, while new startups lik... See more

Commerce: Platforms that help creators sell products. There’s also ample room for new entrants. Platforms like PopShop, Whatnot, Huddle and Lit Live are tackling livestream shopping—already a popular phenomenon in China—while others, like The Landing and The Newness, focus on vertical categories such as interior design and beauty, respectively.