Sam Blumenthal

A few weeks later, a designer brand that was moving its headquarters reached out to the couple to help sell excess inventory. The brand had about 700 pairs of shoes it wanted to unload. Within three hours, during a livestream on Taobao, Yuan and Zhang sold all the merchandise.

Solving the Personalization & Scale Paradox

Impossible to Possible, Cell-Cultured Meat, and the Radical Future of Food

Platforms like Taobao, owned by Alibaba, and WeChat function as both hybrids of social media and eCommerce platforms, essentially offering users a plethora of services from microblogging, messaging and online shopping, all in one experience. This interconnected economy of services means that live stream shopping is simply an extension of the... See more

Studies show that friends and family are still the most trusted sources when it comes to making purchasing decisions, with consumers more likely to buy a product they have experienced. Up against this kind of scrutiny, it is important for brands to select a host with a proven following and high engagement rates, and up to the influencer to promote... See more

In December, a fashion startup called Scarce started selling used luxury clothing in the form of mystery boxes, following in the footsteps of a British startup, Heat, which launched with the same concept in late 2019. Both companies claim they have managed to avoid a high return rate — one of the biggest potential pitfalls of a mystery box sales... See more