What's old is new: Brands craving connection with consumers turn to livestreaming

“Influencers, they understand their community,” Bogliari said, which makes the viewing experience feel more personalized, and could then lead to higher conversion rates. He added that influencers make livestream shopping “more relatable and appear less commercial.”

Influencers do, in fact, affect the purchasing decision of many Gen Zers. Almost half of them purchased something based on an influencer’s recommendation, according to a 2020 study from Kantar.

Gen Z and millennial cohorts had the highest livestreaming usage rate worldwide in 2020, according to data from Euromonitor. In China, millennials used livestreaming the most at 41.9%, and in the U.S., Gen Zers used it the most at 21.5%.

In a time when shoppers are wary of being in physical shopping centers due to the pandemic, retailers, brands and social media apps have all jumped on the shoppable live content playing field in some way. In recent months, Nordstrom announced over 50 interactive livestream events, Facebook partnered with Anne Klein to debut its live in-app shopping... See more

While the shopping habits of different cultures may differ, younger consumers, regardless of where they live, are similar in how they use social media to connect. Livestreaming taps into that trait because, unlike the shopping channel model, it gives viewers the ability to have a two-way conversation with the host, said Alessandro Bogliari, co-foun... See more