Case Study

Livestreaming:
How Brands
Can Make It Work
By Zoe Suen

Fashion and beauty companies are betting on livestreaming to engage their communities and generate
sales revenue, but the channel remains elusive to many. BoF assesses the prospects and pitfalls of the
global livestreaming opportunity to determine how brands can capitalise on this rapidly evolving medium.

businessoffashion.com September 2021

Executive Summary
Fashion and beauty companies are generating tool to the extent it has in In a landscape full of content creators
increasingly reliant on digital innovations China. The US livestreaming industry vying for screen time, it can be
from Asia. Super-apps like WeChat is expected to reach $11 billion this year challenging for brands to add enough
became indispensable in the region before according to Coresight Research — a value or create the right kind of pull factor
proving their worth in the running of remarkable figure considering how new to coax viewers to a stream and compel
a global business; more recently, short the medium is there, but one that is a them to engage in a meaningful way.
video app TikTok took the world by storm, fraction the value of the industry Doing so while avoiding the many pitfalls
inspiring many copycats in the process. in China. that livestreaming inherently presents
But few of these online exports have can be even harder. This case study
Indeed, it has taken years for
intrigued — and puzzled — brands quite aims to provide a guide to this relatively
livestreaming to ripple westward, albeit
like livestreaming. new and rapidly evolving medium,
with different characteristics and more
highlighting both best practices and
Defined for the purpose of this case study limited use cases. Slower adoption in the
cautionary tales from brands, platforms
as the marketing and sales of products West can be attributed to a combination
and agencies, allowing businesses to craft
to online viewers through real-time of factors, including differences in retail
detailed livestreaming roadmaps in line
video streams, livestreaming took off psychology, consumer behaviour and
with their goals.
five years ago in China. Today, most platform use. Though many apps and
social media platforms in the country retailers have adopted the medium in the
have fully integrated livestreaming wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which
functionality and, according to Forrester, sent online sales surging and underscored
China’s livestreaming industry will be the importance of digital engagement,
worth $239 billion this year, growing at players have different views on the
a compound annual growth rate of 27 potential for livestreaming to become a
percent through to 2025. However, the mainstream business tool for fashion
medium’s commercial opportunities are and beauty in the US and Europe in the
no longer limited to China, as nascent long term.
livestreaming ecosystems have emerged
Nonetheless, a diverse range of
in other markets, making it accessible to
international companies — from luxury
global consumers.
houses and beauty brands to those selling
At its best, livestreaming is an sports cars and toys — have already
entertaining and interactive antidote tapped livestreaming with varying
to the sometimes static, crowded degrees of success. Few have developed a
marketplaces of traditional e-commerce: fully-fledged playbook, but many of their
It can create a dialogue between brands ad hoc activations offer valuable learnings
and buyers looking to discover new for brands trying to determine when and
items, aid with decision-making and how to invest in the channel.
amplify convenience through seamless
This case study will examine the many
check-out integration, all while providing
factors that fashion and beauty brands
brands with valuable real-time feedback
should consider before creating, refining
and data. But critics contend that
or revamping a livestream strategy,
best-case scenarios represent only a
beginning with fundamental tactics such
small proportion of brands’ current
as choosing the right platform, timing
livestreaming activities, suggesting that
broadcasts and building an in-house
it is either an overhyped, short-lived
team. It will then explain how players
trend or a high-risk strategy yielding a
can choose the best products for their
questionable return on investment.
broadcasts, as well as what to consider
The verdict is still out on its global staying when enlisting a host and designing
power, with most other markets yet to formats that keep audiences coming back
see livestreaming mesh with commerce to interact and shop.
to offer brands a significant revenue

Have you been forwarded this Case Study? Read more deep-dive analysis by exploring a BoF Professional membership at
businessoffashion.com/memberships or contact professional@businessoffashion.com

businessoffashion.com 2
Market Context

Can Livestreaming Go Global?

Livestreaming hosts like Viya have thrived amid ongoing digitisation and a social media boom in China. Getty Images.

Asia
Exhibit 1: Platforms Vying for Supremacy China’s livestream journey began in chat
rooms. According to Jinglan Lin and
In 2020, Douyin, Kuaishou and Taobao made up nearly 80 percent of all livestreaming Zhicong Lu, authors of “The Rise and
gross merchandise value (GMV) in China. Proliferation of Livestreaming in China:
Insights and Lessons,” the medium
Market share of China livestreaming e-commerce took off around 2005 after netizens
GMV by platform (2020) repurposed a live video broadcasting
Percent function on social media app YY.
Having spotted the potential for
livestreams to boost engagement and
Others
build online communities (and having
22 noted the success of television home
Taobao shopping networks which had made
33 their way to China from the West),
Chinese tech giants acted. Alibaba’s
Taobao was the first mover when it came
Douyin to livestream e-commerce integration,
18 and rival JD.com — who together with
Taobao accounts for the lion’s share of
e-commerce sales in China’s fashion and
Kuaishou beauty markets — began streaming in the
28
mid-2010s.
Due to the speed at which the China
market was digitised, consumers tend
Source: Bain & Company and Kantar China Shopper Report 2021 to be remarkably receptive to new
Note: Percentages do not add up to 100 due to rounding. technologies. This explains in part

businessoffashion.com 3
Market Context

the rapid uptake of livestreaming in from setting a Guinness World Record for
the country. For Chinese retailers, trying on 380 lipsticks during a seven-
livestreaming’s appeal was apparent. Not hour stream, Li is famed for offering
only did it serve as a solution to myriad viewers the best prices on the market
issues, like expanding vendors’ reach into (a key selling point expressed as quan
more rural areas, livestreaming emerged guo zui di jia in Mandarin), which goes
at a time when there was sufficient some way toward explaining luxury
progress in hardware and software brands’ growing pains with a format
development and the roll-out of 4G (and often deemed incongruous with high-end
eventually 5G) networks that made the storytelling.
medium widely accessible on mobile
Alongside issues like fake engagement,
devices.
traffic fraud and counterfeit sales,
Chinese influencers, referred to locally livestreaming’s reliance on major (and
as key opinion leaders (KOLs), thrived therefore costly) KOLs has many experts
amid ongoing digitisation and a social calling it an overhyped bubble. But
media boom. All the while, tech firms “that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s
pushed livestreaming to shoppers and nothing there,” says Brennan. Authorities
creators; top livestreaming host Viya, have imposed regulations on platforms
who rose to fame after taking part in an featuring minors and have attempted
Alibaba training course, reportedly sold to clamp down on issues like fraudulent
$31 billion in goods (which span fashion, data. But the impact of these and other
beauty, cars and even rockets) through challenges facing brands, Ma predicts,
her livestream channel in 2020. will be largely negligible in the short term
and positive in the long run.
The rise of China as the luxury industry’s
most important global market led Following its meteoric rise in China,
major players, from Louis Vuitton to livestreaming has since spilled over into
Dior, to experiment with the medium, other Asian markets where it has gained
legitimising livestreams for fashion popularity.
and beauty brands in the country and
Take South Korea where, according to
drawing attention from around the
The Korea Herald, department store
world. Meanwhile, tech upstarts used
Hyundai’s Home Shopping channel saw
livestreaming to challenge incumbents as
sales surge nearly fivefold in 2020 to
they all clamoured for a bigger slice of the
reach 28.5 billion won ($24.8 million),
market, which is currently dominated by
with 25 million viewers. Meanwhile,
Alibaba’s Taobao, Douyin and Kuaishou.
e-commerce giant Coupang in June
In 2020, livestream e-commerce made refurbished an entire floor of its Seoul
up around 10 percent of China’s overall headquarters to make way for livestream
e-commerce market, according to HSBC e-commerce studios, priming it to take on
Qianhai Securities; it is estimated that archrival Naver in the livestream arena.
this share will double to 20 percent by
Southeast and South Asian countries
2022.
have jumped on the bandwagon, too.
Another reason the medium found Between January and December 2020,
popularity is its ability to offer value Singapore-based e-commerce platform
for money. Experts say livestreaming Shopee noted an average 3.5 times
costs in China are more affordable than increase in monthly orders of women’s
conventional advertising, thanks to lower fashion made through livestreams across
commissions paid to platforms and the Southeast Asia and Taiwan. In July
format’s targeted, shoppable nature. 2021, YouTube acquired Indian start-up
According to Rui Ma, host and founder Simsim, a social e-commerce app with
of the Tech Buzz China podcast and livestream functionality, in what sources
partner at venture captial firm Synaptic told TechCrunch was a deal worth over
Ventures, most platforms, like Kuaishou $70 million.
and Taobao Live, charge between 2 and
But the format has not been met with the
5 percent in sales commissions — lower
same enthusiasm everywhere. Last year
than rates for regular e-commerce
in Japan, Yahoo Japan’s e-commerce
listings, which can go up to 10 percent.
business announced plans to shut down
“It’s the same as paying for ads, except
its livestream e-commerce function (a
you get to sell,” says Ma.
spokesperson cited low usage in a Nikkei
In China, the consumer’s desire for a good Asia story), and online resale marketplace
deal is a major driver in the livestream Mercari shuttered its live feature in 2020.
industry, and is why major KOLs like Li
Jiaqi (also known as Austin Li) are so The Rest of the World
popular as hosts, says Matthew Brennan,
For many in the West, home shopping
tech analyst and co-founder of digital
on television is the closest analogue to
marketing firm China Channel. Aside

businessoffashion.com 4
 Market Context

“There’s no reason to say livestream e-commerce. To be sure, China “There’s no reason to say that just because
we don’t have Alibaba, we won’t have
has a sizeable home shopping industry
that just because we of its own, one which was already worth [livestream] e-commerce,” says Sophie
$9.3 billion in 2012, according to China Abrahamsson, chief commercial officer
don’t have Alibaba, we Business Review. But the advent of social at Bambuser, a B2B player equipping
media, dominance of mobile phones and brands with livestream technology that
won’t have [livestream] intense interactivity of livestreams gave it in August entered into a long-term master
e-commerce... it’s just a an edge over its predecessor. agreement with French luxury group
LVMH. “I don’t see it as an obstacle, it’s
The Home Shopping Network and QVC
different starting point.” set the ball rolling for the US in the
just a different starting point.”

— Sophie Abrahamsson, Bambuser

1980s; a deal with Sky brought QVC Ultimately, however, corporate
to the UK in 1993; Australia and New investment will depend on consumer
Zealand’s Television Shopping Network behaviour and whether Western viewers
was established in 1995; and Germany’s take to livestreaming with fervour for
Channel 21 was launched as RTL Shop the long-haul. They need to see it as
in 2001. an attractive medium that adds value
in terms of their engagement across
Home shopping had its fashion
marketing and shopping touchpoints.
moments: QVC famously helped designer
Diane von Furstenberg return to fashion
after a hiatus by offering her a platform
The Covid-19 Pandemic
to sell silk clothing on air in the 1990s. Following initial Covid-19 outbreaks in
But the medium has largely lost relevance early 2020, social distancing measures
among younger shoppers and brands. and store closures forced brands across
Moreover, “to produce [a home shopping] international markets onto livestreams
show is really costly,” says Davy Huang, in lieu of physical marketing events.
business development director at China Others leaned on livestream-enabled
cross-border e-commerce firm Azoya, e-commerce partners in a bid to recover
adding that TV-run programmes are less some of the losses that were mounting
accessible and harder to interact with. from brick-and-mortar operations.
Digitally native businesses like Amazon Global livestream views soared.
have attempted to update the format to According to streaming platform
boost discovery. Though Amazon Live, StreamElements and gaming data firm
which was relaunched in 2019 and is Arsenal.gg, the global livestream industry
available in the US, has drawn brands like grew 45 percent between March and
Covergirl and Neutrogena to the platform, April 2020, a 99 percent increase on the
it has yet to emerge as a dominant player previous year.
despite Amazon’s over 40 percent share
In China, Alibaba’s dedicated
of e-commerce sales in that market (the
livestreaming platform Taobao Live
company declined to share figures for
brought in 500 billion yuan ($76.3 billion)
Amazon Live).
in GMV for the group’s 2021 fiscal year.
“Are [Amazon] making progress? Yes. Across the wider Asia region, major
Are they gaining significant traction? e-commerce festivals helped popularise
No,” says Mark Yuan, co-founder and the medium, from Shopee’s Live Mega
chief executive of livestream e-commerce Festival in Southeast Asian markets in
consultancy And Luxe. June 2020 to Indian e-commerce giant
Myntra’s online shopping extravaganzas
Though a clear leader has yet to emerge
in July 2021.
in the livestreaming space in Western
markets, it’s not for want of trying. In The medium became a lifeline for
August, TikTok announced a partnership brands looking to replicate in-person
with Shopify that would facilitate in-app interactivity online. According to services
shopping; Amazon-owned Twitch began firm Arvato, 21 percent of brands in
selling to users during streams after Europe tried livestreaming for the first
integrating a check-out system in 2020; time during the first wave of lockdowns.
Instagram’s US users can shop in-app In 2020, tech upstarts, like drops-
through livestreams, but as the feature is orientated livestream platform Ntwrk
tied to their checkout function, users in and Swedish B2B firm Bambuser, gained
Europe and other markets must leave the ground and helped the likes of Balmain,
app to complete their transactions. Off-White and Luisa Via Roma go live.
These firms, alongside platforms like
Executives at leading start-ups are
Smartzer and Buywith, are competing
betting that they can adapt livestreaming
with social media apps for a bigger chunk
to make it an integral part of the retail
of the growing industry.
landscape beyond China, though the user
experience will differ along with other Alongside the streaming of their runway
elements, including how influencers shows, Prada and Burberry hosted
engage with viewers. livestreams featuring industry insiders
and influencers to discuss their new

businessoffashion.com 5
Market Context

collections, while Hermès gave viewers a

Exhibit 2: Online Sales on the Rise behind-the-scenes preview of looks before
models took the stage for its menswear
Though e-commerce sales are growing in the US and Europe, China is in the lead. show. Many players experimented with
the medium to host community events
like workout classes, beauty tutorials,
E-commerce retail value by geography (2020-2022 F)
styling sessions and panel discussions.
USD (Billions)
Fenty Skin launched a “house party” on
its site, where fans of the brand turned on
their webcams to dance alongside rapper
1,029 ASAP Rocky and Rihanna on a virtual
932 dance floor. Mulberry hosted poetry
852
768
825 readings.
706
608 Not all attempts were a hit. Most
547
484 livestreamed digital fashion shows failed
to have the same impact as their physical
counterparts. The fully digital London
Fashion Week in June 2020, which
mainly featured smaller brands, saw 55
percent less social media engagement
2020 2021 F 2022 F 2020 2021 F 2022 F 2020 2021 F 2022 F than its in-person season in January,
according to Launchmetrics. And though
Europe US China brands like Burberry, Dior and Chanel
continue to innovate, digital showcases
generally continue to be seen as
Source: Euromonitor International
replacements or accessories to in-person
Note: E-commerce geography refers to region in which the consumer — not the retailer — is based.
activations rather than upgrades. What
remains unclear is how the livestreaming
of physical shows will evolve in the post-
pandemic era.
But however successful – or not – early
experiments have been across various
touchpoints, the willingness that brands
and consumers felt to engage with
livestreaming during lockdowns will
be hard to replicate post-pandemic.
Indeed, Xiaofeng Wang, senior analyst
at research company Forrester, doesn’t
see the livestream industries in the US
and Europe catching up with China,
where livestreams are ubiquitous across
platforms and e-commerce accounts
for more than 30 percent of all retail
(eMarketer pegs it at 50 percent).
One reason the gap is expected to
continue is a divergence in consumer
behaviour: Many Western consumers
still shop on laptops, while Chinese users
are more used to making purchases
quickly on mobile devices. Moreover,
Wang predicts that more time is needed
for shoppers outside the digitally savvy
Millennial and Gen-Z cohorts to feel
comfortable with spending during live
broadcasts.
“Livestream e-commerce is just a part of
e-commerce; its maturity, scale and reach
depend on the maturity of e-commerce
itself,” she says, adding that Southeast
Asia is a little further ahead than
Western markets.

While luxury brands like Burberry continue to innovate digital showcases of their collections, it remains to be
seen how the livestreaming of physical shows will evolve in the post-pandemic era. Getty Images.

businessoffashion.com 6
Market Opportunity

Why Livestreaming Sells

Communicating with others and being part of a collective experience is one of the keys to livestreaming’s success. Bambuser.

Retail Psychology their first Formula-E race car, Porsche

created an interactive live game with
What attracts livestream fans to the
Twitch: The race car was hidden in the
format? Intimacy and authenticity
carmaker’s headquarters and users had
are the main draws, says Iris Yen, vice
to work together to solve puzzles to find it
president and general manager of direct
and reveal the new release. The challenge
digital commerce at Nike, which this year
took four hours and 1.4 million users got
expanded livestreaming to the US, UK,
involved, says Adam Harris, global head
Brazil and Japan for its Training Club
of Twitch’s brand partnerships studio.
app. Nike has also tapped the format for
product drops, like its collaboration with Combining shopping with livestreams
Alyx’s Matthew Williams in May on its can produce impressive results for
Snkrs app. fashion and beauty brands, but players
need a keen understanding of retail
“What livestreaming has given us is
psychology. “Livestreaming can lead to
a powerful mechanism to capture
a much higher conversion rate compared
the authenticity and spontaneity of a
to other types of advertising, because the
moment, harnessing all of the emotion
exclusive deals create a sense of urgency,
and community we associate with live
which leads to impulse buying,” says Miro
sport and culture events, something
Li, Hong Kong-based founder of Double V
that we previously thought was only
Consulting.
achievable in-person,” says Yen.
In 2018, Alibaba’s Taobao said that its
Socialising with others and being part of
conversion rate was a staggering 32
a collective experience is also key. China’s
percent, while Germany’s LiSa platform
video streaming platform Bilibili is
has recorded rates of up to 35 percent
popular among Gen-Z viewers in part for
across segments.
a feature that highlights these qualities:
User-generated bullet comments flow Streaming also shortens the path between
across streams as they air and allow discovery and purchase, says Bambuser’s
viewers to interact with hosts as well as Abrahamsson. “You like what you see,
fellow audience members. Gaming, an and you click and add it to the cart. It’s
increasingly popular social medium, is shortening the sequence of clicks you
another option. Ahead of announcing need to make,” she says. Bambuser’s

businessoffashion.com 7
Market Opportunity

overall average add-to-cart rate is 6 already so inundated with content and

percent, but when it comes to fashion and advertisements that they can suffer from
beauty, average rates are 8 and 10 percent consumer fatigue in such a fast-paced and
respectively. often lengthy format, increasing the risk
of poor decision-making.
Consumer Behaviour Long before the advent of livestreaming,
In a best-case scenario, livestreaming is the retail industry recognised that
a win-win: Viewers receive immediate encouraging impulse buying comes
answers about everything from fit to with risks. Consumers who later regret
colour options, while businesses get purchases made hastily may associate
real-time product feedback. “It’s much negative feelings not just with the product
easier to feel confident about a purchase,” itself but with the retailer and the brand.
says Abrahamsson. “Getting questions Since short-term gain for the seller can
answered in that interactive way, rather come at the expense of a buyer trust
than doing research on your own, deficit in the long run, brands need to
shortens a conversion process that can consider whether the potential trade-off
take 10 to 15 days.” is worth it.
In a 2021 study on livestreams and Moreover, failing to provide shoppers
impulse buying behaviour, academics with correct or adequate information
Chaohsing Lee and Chienwen Chen during a stream can lead to a high volume
noted that perceived enjoyment of the of returns, says Azoya’s Huang. Top
livestream experience — caused by factors KOLs are catching on to these concerns:
like perceived usefulness, expertise, CGTN reported in 2020 that Li Jiaqi told
product usefulness and purchase viewers about his in-house quality control
convenience — boosted the urge to buy team, which he said had upgraded its
impulsively. product selection process and would only
recommend products from flagships on
But the same characteristics that make
Tmall to guarantee quality and post-sales
livestreaming such an effective and
service.
engaging format for some consumers
pose risks for others. While impulse For these and other reasons,
buying can and often does work in a livestreaming has meshed with some
brand’s favour, viewers run the risk of products, brands and demographics
buying into misinformation, fake goods better than others.
and poor-quality products. App users are
Beauty’s price accessibility makes it
more impulse-buy friendly than other
categories and it is well-suited to chatty
live demos; luxury goods can be tricky
Exhibit 3: Beauty Livestreams Are Paying Off as viewers expect higher production
values from premium players, which
Beauty livestreams are performing especially well for clients of B2B livestream player can go against the essence of the format
Bambuser when it comes to engagement, click-throughs and add-to-cart rates. which is a candid and spontaneous form
of commercial entertainment. Louis
Vuitton’s livestream experiment in
Average audience engagement of Bambuser Beauty China, for example, was criticised by some
livestreams by category (June 2021) Fashion netizens for looking cheap. “It wasn’t
Percent All Categories perfect [but] gradually people will do it
better, you know, to be more [innovative
and] fitting for the image of a luxury
31 brand,” says Angelica Cheung, venture
partner at Sequoia Capital China and
Engagement 25 former editor-in-chief of Vogue China.

25 When it comes to global livestream

audiences, younger shoppers are typically
more tech savvy — a 2019 study by market
25
intelligence firm GfK found that 73
Click-Through Rate 18 percent of Millennials used a phone to
shop in the six months prior, while the
20 figure for Boomers was 33 percent.
But livestreaming doesn’t only appeal to
10
younger demographics. Singapore-based
Add-to-Cart 8 e-tailer Shopee is seeing its fastest growth
in livestream viewership among people
6 aged 34 to 50, says regional managing
director Ian Ho. Meanwhile Ntwrk’s
audience is mostly 18 to 34 years old, but
Source: Bambuser the average age of purchasers is 28. “It’s

businessoffashion.com 8
 Market Opportunity

largely driven by economics,” says the

Exhibit 4: China’s Livestream E-Commerce Boom firm’s president Moksha Fitzgibbons.
Though Gen-Z brands and influencers
Livestream sales in the country have gone from negligible to over $300 billion in a like Colourpop and Billie Eilish are active
matter of years. on the app, the exclusive and collectible
products it specialises in can be costly for
younger shoppers.
China livestreaming e-commerce gross merchandise value (2017-2021 F)
USD (Billions) With livestreaming at different stages
of development across different
demographics and geographies, where
400 should brands focus their investment?

Market Conditions
317
320
Livestreaming tools have been baked into
touchpoints throughout China’s digital
ecosystem, from groceries to education;
240 Alibaba has integrated it into all its key
190
businesses, says Mei Chen, the group’s
head of fashion and luxury for the UK,
160 Spain and Northern Europe. But despite
claims that the medium has peaked
in the mainland, China’s already huge
livestream e-commerce sector is still
80
65 growing; KPMG and AliResearch forecast
its market value to hit $305 billion
21 by 2021.
3
0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 F In other markets, livestreaming is still
in its infancy. But in Southeast Asia,
Share of
China’s overall 0.2 0.5-1 3-4 6-7 9-10
where a rapidly growing population
retail sales (%) and middle class, rich tech and retail
ecosystem and high mobile penetration
Source: Bain & Company and Kantar China Shopper Report 2021 rates have been likened to China’s in
Note: Overall retail sales includes FMCG, apparel and electronics. earlier years, retailers like Shopee and
Original data in RMB converted to USD at 2021 constant exchange rates. Alibaba-owned Lazada are betting big
on the industry. During Shopee’s 4.4
Mega Shopping Sale in April 2021, the
platform recorded 32 million livestream
Exhibit 5: Spending on the Small Screen viewing minutes across markets. “We’ve
seen a lot of livestreaming from smaller
E-commerce sales on smartphones continue to grow in Europe, the US and China. entrepreneurs and brands [in the region],”
says Alibaba’s Chen. “Now, bigger brands
are using that tool to communicate with
Mobile e-commerce retail value (2017-2022 F) Europe
consumers.”
USD (Billions) US
China Though experts doubt that the
livestreaming industry in the West
will grow at the same rate (or reach the
CAGR same heights) as China’s, the medium
(2017-2022 F) still bears potential: The US market is
expected to reach $11 billion this year,
according to forecasts by Coresight
291 +25% Research. Meanwhile, a study conducted
by Forrester revealed that 70 percent of
250
European respondents expressed interest
207 320 +27% in livestream e-commerce experiences.
272
Yet Forrester data suggests that shoppers
149 226
from the US and UK are less likely to talk
120 158 about products and complete purchases
123 on the same platform without leaving it
95
868 +19% — behaviour that is already common in
96 780
706 countries like China and India. Slower
580
359
469 adoption in European markets and the
US is just as much — if not more — about
companies than consumers, says Chen.
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 F 2022 F “Tech, corporations and consumers need
to be at the same pace. In China, all three
things came together way before Europe
Source: Euromonitor International and the US.”

businessoffashion.com 9
 Market Opportunity

The tech element in the equation is

Exhibit 6: Social Shoppers in China expected to catch up. Chen predicts
that the arrival of 5G will help boost
The percentage of Chinese consumers who regularly shop on social media is higher livestreaming in the West; Azoya’s Huang
than that of France, the UK and US combined. predicts that the evolution and real-world
application of VR and internet of things
(IoT) technologies will bring about a new
Consumers who buy products on social media at least weekly era of livestreaming. But while executives
by geography (2021)
at agencies and platforms — particularly
Percentage of respondents
those in China — remain optimistic about
the prospects of livestream e-commerce
in Western markets, brands need to
manage their expectations.
China 63 For one, China’s retail landscape is more
than a century younger than that of the
US, says Tech Buzz China’s Ma. This
explains why brands are in the habit of
US 23 finding novel ways of breaking into the
China market, as opposed to following
legacy retail strategies. According to Ma,
the big opportunity for livestreaming
UK 20 to take off was during the pandemic. “If
livestreaming didn’t take off in 2020, it’s
going to be very hard [to grow at China’s
speed.]”
France 19 It doesn’t help that the pathways and
opportunities available to brands looking
to livestream in the West can be far more
complex than in China, where online
Source: Forrester Research Inc. life is anchored to the so-called “walled
Note: Sample size varies by country between 14,869 and 142,480 respondents. gardens” of a few pervasive platforms.
In the West, brands are compelled to
choose from a growing list of social media
apps and marketplaces; build white
label, own-brand apps for streams, like
fast fashion player Zaful did; or plug a
software solution into their own websites,
by working with B2B firms like Sweden’s
Bambuser, Canada’s Livescale and
Germany’s LiSa.
It’s now up to platforms to educate users
“If livestreaming didn’t take off in 2020, it’s going to and incentivise content creators, and
be very hard [to grow at China’s speed.]” for leading fashion and beauty brands to
legitimise the medium further — though
— Rui Ma, Tech Buzz China looking to China for inspiration in this
regard may not be fruitful. This is largely
due to differences in consumer culture.
For example, “the gifting [tipping] culture
in China is much bigger, so creators
are rewarded for when they innovate,”
says Arnold Ma, founder and chief
executive of China-focused digital agency
Qumin. Digital monetary tips often
make up the bulk of both top streamers’
incomes and platforms’ revenues (the
latter takes a cut): Chinese streaming
platform Kuaishou says tipping, rather
than advertising, is its biggest revenue
stream. But tipping is also a focal point
for local regulators, who in 2021 issued
guidelines requiring platforms to impose
“reasonable” caps on virtual tips.
“The Western philosophy is that it’s a
free market. If I make the friction as low
as possible, people will come,” says Tech
Buzz China’s Ma. “In China, it’s a planned
economy, so entrepreneurs think like
that too.”

businessoffashion.com 10
Strategy

A Brand’s Guide to Going Live

01 — Choose the Right Stage
Different platforms serve different purposes. Like E.l.f. Cosmetics, brands should experiment
before carving out tailor-made livestreaming strategies.

E.l.f. Cosmetics chose a Ntwrk stream for its collaboration with fast food chain Chipotle to tap into its Gen-Z audience. Ntwrk.

While it’s hard to find a brand in China are anchored to brands’ own sites (and
that isn’t streaming through either therefore casting to social media is
Taobao Live, Douyin, Xiaohongshu or video-only, for the time being), the plug-in
WeChat (if not all the above), businesses model allows brands to own more of their
have more options in markets like Europe traffic, says Bambuser’s Abrahamsson.
and the US, says Forrester’s Wang. “A
“Social media is immediate, it’s discovery,
lot of customers still buy products from
it might be quick [and] inspirational, but
own-brand websites and apps so they
it’s where people jump between things
don’t necessarily have to work with other
[competing] for their attention,” she
platforms.” While it remains unclear if a
says. “If you bring them back home to
more fragmented livestream ecosystem
your [own] e-commerce [channels] you’ll
can have the same impact as China’s
create a different relationship and get to
consolidated networks, brands need to
keep the data.”
work with what’s available.
For brands that are new to the medium,
There are B2B players that equip brands
however, testing the waters through social
with livestream technology. Aside from
media or an existing retail partner could
allowing brands to go live on their own
be beneficial before investing in a more
sites, B2B livestream provider Bambuser
robust programme.
can simultaneously cast streams onto
social media platforms like YouTube, Brands searching for livestream
Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as media e-commerce partners across global
outlets. While shoppable functions markets are now spoilt for choice,

businessoffashion.com 11
Strategy

whether they prefer an e-tailer they menswear players, Chinese platforms

already sell through (think Alibaba’s Huya and Kuaishou are popular among
Tmall, South Korea’s Coupang or Japan’s sportswear and streetwear lovers,
Zozo) or streaming-focused start-ups categories that are also prominent on
(like Twitch or Uplive, which is big in Ntwrk.
markets like Brazil), or social media firms
But rather than immediately committing
such as Russian Facebook analogue VK.
to one platform, experimentation is
Livestreaming through an e-commerce encouraged. “It’s OK to test the waters
partner (as L’Oréal does with Alibaba first, try different ways and then find
in China and Shiseido with Shopee the best practice,” says Double V’s Li.
in Southeast Asia) streamlines Take E.l.f. Cosmetics, which in March
logistics and technical support, while launched its collaboration with fast food
broadcasting on social media can appeal chain Chipotle on livestreaming platform
to a wider, untapped audience. The Ntwrk; the collection sold out in under
former is especially helpful when major 10 minutes, garnering 10 million total
e-commerce festivals (like Singles’ Day) impressions and 200,000 views.
come around and marketplaces are
The brand, which has another Ntwrk
further incentivised to drive traffic to
stream planned, chose the platform to
brands.
tap into its Gen-Z audience, says chief
Ultimately, the key to livestreaming is digital officer Ekta Chopra. “We heard a
to “go where your followers are,” says lot of noise about Ntwrk from our Gen-Z
Forrester’s Wang. For a brand launching consumer [and] we saw our teams talking
a cartoon-inspired beauty collection, about it. It just made a lot of sense for
this might be Twitch, or in China, Bilibili us to try this out,” she says. But rather
(which boasts an audience of around 80 than immediately investing heavily in
percent Post-90s generation youngsters the platform for the long-term, E.l.f. will
and has roots in anime, comics and funnel its learnings from Ntwrk into
gaming, known as ACG culture). For its own livestream platform, which is
currently in the works.
Once a brand has found the right
platforms for its goals, using different
livestreaming channels to target different
demographics can raise awareness and
build loyalty at the same time. But to
cast a wider net, brands in China often
stream on both traditional e-commerce
and social e-commerce platforms (Taobao
and Xiaohongshu, for instance). Whether
brands take this approach themselves or
through a B2B intermediary, the key is to
ensure that the content appeals to each
platform’s audience.
“You don’t have to be like the audience,
you don’t have to pretend [to be] one of
them if you’re not, they’ll see straight
through it,” says Twitch’s Harris. “All you
have to do is show you understand them.”

E.l.f. intends to funnel its learnings from its Ntwrk streams into its own livestream platform. Ntwrk.

businessoffashion.com 12
Strategy

02 — Time the Stream Intelligently

Diane von Furstenberg’s approach shows that getting the length and cadence of streams right can
make a big impact on reach and engagement.

Longer livestreams, like DVF’s that span four hours, allow the host time to build an audience. DVF.

Timing is everything for livestreams. Apart from special launches and gives the host time to field questions and
Brands marketing to a white-collar activations tied to holidays and festivals, build an audience, but also gives users a
audience won’t get much traction at 3pm, setting a weekly or monthly slot helps greater window to share the activation
but the afternoon could be peak hours for cultivate a community of loyal viewers. and drop in or out. Longer streams
those targeting stay-at-home parents. “Consistency is key,” says Diane von also allow time to introduce different
Furstenberg (DVF) president and chief segments, which can break up a stream
While global brands can’t align to every
executive Gabby Hirata, who used to head and keep things interesting. In China, it’s
single time zone, they should prioritise
the brand’s APAC business and launched normal for streams to span several hours;
and localise accordingly. Luxury retailer
its first livestream in China last year. on average, DVF’s streams last four hours
Moda Operandi, for example, opted for
Now, DVF hosts livestreams from its and usually begin at 8pm, with traffic
pre-recorded streams in order to feature
Beijing flagship once a month to showcase peaking at 10pm. Hirata considers the
designers and other interviewees outside
new products and styling ideas through first hour of the stream a “warm-up.”
the US, including a broadcast introducing
Taobao Live, which is linked to its Tmall
Paco Rabanne’s Resort 2022 collection “[Shoppable] livestreams aren’t short-
store.
shot in the brand’s Paris showroom, form content and shouldn’t be approached
featuring creative director Julien It takes time to build a returning audience as such,” says Munira Rahemtulla,
Dossena and Moda Operandi co-founder — at least six months, according to Hirata. director at Amazon Live. “You can’t
Lauren Santo Domingo. “Your first livestream will never be that create that trusted relationship with
impressive because you have to do it your audience in 30 seconds, or even 20
Using a stream to soft launch a product
consistently and train your audience minutes; for livestreams to be successful,
can be effective, especially when
to know that [there will be a stream] you need time to build credibility, earn
exclusivity is added to the mix. Ahead of
every Thursday and what to expect,” she trust and foster a connection with your
a wider Target release of a range of toy
says, adding that promoting the stream audience.”
figurines, Target and pop artist Billie
ahead of time is essential. Now, DVF has
Eilish launched 600 signed collectibles
around 10,000 regular viewers who tune
on Ntwrk. The stream accumulated
in monthly (though the number spikes
250,000 live views and more than 50
around e-commerce festivals); on average,
million impressions; the products sold out
the stream receives 100 user comments
in 20 seconds. That experience, in turn,
and questions every 30 minutes.
directed those who missed out to go to
the mass release at Target instead, says Streaming for longer, especially when
Ntwrk’s Fitzgibbons. it comes to shoppable streams, not only

businessoffashion.com 13
 Strategy

03 — Build In-House Expertise

Even if brands outsource most of the livestreaming function, they should at least build in-house
expertise through a cross-functional taskforce. PacSun’s experience is informative.

PacSun assembled an internal taskforce to facilitate its on-site livestreams in collaboration with Vans and ASAP Worldwide. PacSun.

While linking up with third party

“A significant amount of [a brand’s marketing budget agencies can warm a brand up to a new
in China] should go towards building your own medium like livestreaming, brands
investing for long-term gain should
livestreaming team.” consider building in-house expertise.

— Mark Yuan, And Luxe

Smaller brands with tighter budgets will
inevitably need or prefer to outsource
livestreaming; alas, not all companies
can afford to take the risk of producing
their own content. Working with third-
party agencies, like Flux Broadcast and
Karma, or directly with an e-tailer’s
in-house production team (like at Taobao
or Amazon), to stream for major shopping
events are ways to experiment with the
format.
However, in China, “a significant amount
of [a brand’s marketing budget] should go
towards building your own livestreaming
team,” recommends Yuan of And Luxe.
The way that American retailer PacSun
approached the debate over in-house
teams vs contractors is informative. Prior
to kicking off its on-site livestreams in
August with a footwear collaboration
between Vans and ASAP Worldwide
featuring rapper ASAP Rocky, PacSun
assembled a cross-functional taskforce

businessoffashion.com 14
Strategy

with people from its e-commerce, converting content — not as high as live,
marketing, merchandising and customer but way better than any other part of your
service teams, as well as in-store staff for e-commerce site.”
field participation.
Integration with social media is also
“[Having an in-house team] is a natural crucial when promoting upcoming
evolution for our brand and engaging livestreams — several apps, like Ntwrk
with our audience digitally,” says Mimi and Instagram, will notify users that sign
Ruiz, PacSun’s vice president of digital up to an event when it is about to start.
marketing. The company is already Meanwhile, sorting out inventory is a
seeing traction with its streams, which must prior to major sales and promotion
it is hosting with Bambuser; an in-store events. All this tends to be easier when
broadcast of TikTok star Jules LeBlanc livestreaming is done in-house.
introducing her favourite pieces from its
But brands don’t need a dedicated studio
pre-fall campaign saw chat engagement
team to create engaging livestream
increase tenfold from its first stream.
content; often, the expertise needed
Integrating livestreaming into a brand’s for a well-rounded team is already at a
existing company structure is not only brand’s disposal, such as existing social
cost effective, it also facilitates quicker media, merchandising and e-commerce
decision making. Moreover, the real-time managers. Yuan recommends brands
data brands receive from viewers can be a train two to three people themselves
boon for other parts of the business. or with help from an agency, while
Abrahamsson has seen several successful
Shopee’s Ho adds that businesses should
brands appoint an internal advocate to
encourage their teams to look beyond
take ownership of livestreaming projects.
individual streams when setting key
From there, teams can evaluate their
performance indicators; take account of
marketing calendars to identify events
metrics like new viewers, average watch
that should include a livestreamed
time per viewer, increase in shop traffic
element.
and product views. “With this fuller
view, brands can better engage their loyal A brand’s livestream taskforce should
followers and translate these into tactics overlap with its e-commerce team, store
to build longer-term relationships,” he managers and customer service, to
says. coordinate in-store events and reply to
comments and questions made during
Streams can also be repurposed and
activations. While this doesn’t cost
edited down into short videos for social
a lot of money, says Yuan, it requires
media integration. A brand with a
commitment. “It takes a few months to
podcast, for example, may wish to use
[get the hang of] and another few months
extracts from a livestream as a podcast
to get really good at it.”
session. “Give the stream a longer
life,” urges Bambuser’s Abrahamsson.
“[Recorded streams are] still good at

A livestream taskforce could include store managers to coordinate in-store events with activations. Getty Images.

businessoffashion.com 15
Strategy

04 — Develop a Persuasive Format

In a market where there is a lot of content competing for screen time, livestreaming concepts
must persuade users to make time for the broadcast. Companies like Perfect Diary can serve
as inspiration.

Livestream hosts can maximise entertainment by taking viewers through a product design process or try-ons. Getty Images.

“Building content and community should need to provide some exclusive benefits
be the brand’s number one priority,” says to customers,” says Double V’s Li. This
And Luxe’s Yuan. “Give people a reason to can take the form of loyalty points, gifts
watch your show. Once they speak to you with purchase, free delivery or exclusive
and you have that engagement, you can access to an offline event. Chinese beauty
sell anything to them.” brand Perfect Diary is a prime example:
To promote the launch of an eyeshadow
But how does a brand get people to stop
palette ahead of China’s 618 shopping
what they’re doing and tune in to a
festival in June 2021, the brand streamed
livestream? While simple formats like a
every day for eight days (seven took place
host talking to their phone’s front camera
on Douyin and one on Tmall).
can be engaging, brands should think
carefully about what to prioritise. Each stream featured a different celebrity
guest; the first paid customer received a
Discounts are an effective way to woo
Tesla car as a gift, while the next 9,999
viewers to livestreams, dispose of old
shoppers were gifted a lipstick.
stock and drive traffic to full-price
products, but they’re not the only Coupled with over 1,000 influencer
value proposition brands can bring to tie-ups in the form of unboxing videos
their channels. “Brands tend to see and teasers across own-brand channels
livestreaming only as a medium to and celebrity accounts, the project was a
boost orders and highlight product blockbuster success. According to Double
promotions,” says Shopee’s Ho. As a V, celebrities brought in over 450,000
result, livestreaming is often associated new followers to Perfect Diary’s accounts,
with mass-market categories and 319,000 items were reserved before the
promotions-driven products. Deals are products went live, and the brand ranked
one of many ways brands can draw people first among homegrown beauty players
in. during the festival.
“We know that livestreaming usually Alas, giving away a car and hiring top
leads to impulse buying, which is why we celebrities doesn’t fit into every brand’s

businessoffashion.com 16
Strategy

marketing budget. Giving away the Broadcasts can also generate buzz by
brand’s own products and working with limiting viewership to a smaller group —
micro-influencers, however, might. think friends and family sales livestreams
and new collection previews for brand
It goes without saying that influencers
VIPs. In January 2021, Martine Rose
can be a major draw for livestreams
showcased her Spring/Summer collection
and can raise brand awareness among
through a mixed-reality film that took
untapped audiences. While getting
viewers through a virtual apartment
mentioned on an influencer’s streams
block, featuring clips filmed in the homes
can be impactful, Yuan recommends
of friends of the brand amid lockdowns,
a two-pronged approach: “Build your
including a cameo from rapper Drake.
own community and organic growth;
at the same time, leverage the power Instead of streaming the film on social
of influencers.” Following through by media, Rose chose to stream it on a
linking influencer traffic back to owned website made for the occasion during
channels extends a campaign’s impact several viewing sessions and decided
beyond a single influencer’s post. “When against posting the full film online
the traffic comes, be ready for it.” afterwards. The ephemeral nature of a
stream can be part of its appeal to some
Alongside gifts and influencer
viewers.
appearances, brands can also create a
sense of excitement and community by “We wanted to still create the feeling of
providing exclusive access to archives or a [physical] event,” she says. If you were
behind-the-scenes processes, launching there, you were there. Once it happens,
exclusive or limited-edition products, it’s gone.”
and engaging their audience in activities,
from beauty tutorials and yoga classes to
online games and quizzes.
For its first livestream in 2020, Cartier
took over 770,000 viewers inside an
exclusive exhibition of jewellery featuring
hundreds of extravagant pieces, including
a necklace worth almost $30 million. The
broadcast brought in over 100 million
yuan ($15.5 million). DVF’s first venture
into streaming saw the brand raise money
for Covid-19 relief in China by giving more
than 20,000 viewers an insider’s tour of
its New York headquarters and ended the
stream inside von Furstenberg’s office
and private penthouse space.
Plenty of brands have gamified their
streams. Take Lexus, which reached over
554,000 unique viewers by working with
Twitch streamer Leslie Ann Fu (also
known as Fuslie) to have her community
design their own car. Nike keeps users
engaged on its Snkrs app livestreams
with polling and trivia features,
while Vietnamese women’s footwear
brand Erosska boosted its livestream
engagement on Shopee by introducing
mini-games such as quizzes and
streaming more frequently. According
to Shopee, the brand’s average views
increased fivefold as a result.
A longer broadcast can be broken up into
several sections, which can take viewers
through a product design process, panel
discussions and try-ons to maximise
entertainment. In March, American
YouTube star Nikita Dragun promoted
her new beauty line, Dragun Beauty, by
going live on Instagram. The influencer
showcased the product through a tutorial
and discussed its backstory; almost
43,000 viewers tuned in, and more than
5,000 SKUs were added to shopping carts.

businessoffashion.com 17
Strategy

05 — Spotlight the Perfect Product

Dunhill’s strategy shows that choosing the right product for the stream isn’t necessarily about
bestsellers. Tapping into an overlooked category can also achieve key business objectives.

Dunhill’s Lock bag launch broadcast on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion included a walkthrough of the brand’s runway show and a discussion featuring several KOLs. Dunhill.

Just because an item is a brand’s hero “It’s true that they sold a lot of bags, but an entry-level product can encourage
product doesn’t automatically make the initial objective was more to engage sales and amp up impulse buying, says
it the right focal point in a livestream. with consumers that weren’t already in Wang.
The format provides brands with a rare their portfolio and showcase a category
Demo-friendly items, like lipsticks and
opportunity to gauge interest and interact they weren’t as strong in,” says Chen.
other pigmented cosmetics, are safe
with prospective customers, which can
The brand launched a black-on-black choices as viewers can request swatches
help boost items and categories that are
colourway exclusive to Tmall. A one-of- and ask if the product smudges or applies
less popular or less well-known.
a-kind product or one with a limited run well. Similarly, any product with a
In September 2020, British luxury can be a boon for streams — Ntwrk, for noticeable “before and after” comparison
brand Dunhill hosted a livestream to one, focuses on curating highly desirable, would be suited to the medium.
mark the launch of its flagship store on exclusive product drops and has already
It pays to prepare for a wide range of
Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion. The brand used partnered with the likes of Balmain, Off-
questions and requests: Viewers may
the livestream to introduce its new bag White, and artist Takashi Murakami.
want to see clothes on a different sized
model, the Lock. “Dunhill isn’t known When working with brands on upcoming
model, homeware to scale with another
for bags in China or the West, so [raising streams, Fitzgibbons and his teams
object and beauty products on another
awareness] was the main objective,” says encourage them to include collaborative
skin tone. And always keep inventory and
Alibaba’s Chen. and exclusive elements.
supply chains in mind. “If you sell out of a
The broadcast took viewers through Meanwhile, Nike’s Air Jordan 4 in big batch very quickly, you may be in the
the brand’s most recent runway show, collaboration with football club Paris position of having no product to sell in the
followed by a discussion featuring several Saint-Germain, which it dropped on near future,” says Azoya’s Huang.
KOLs, a styling session and finally a its Snkrs app, sold out in under two
conversation with top blogger Mr Bags. minutes, around the same amount of time
During these discussions, the brand was a crossover with musician DJ Khaled
able to provide context on its history accumulated 45,000 registrations.
and the craftsmanship that went into
Generally, electronics, fashion and
production. Dunhill sold out of the Lock
cosmetics are the top categories that
bag and the broadcast reached over
consumers are interested in purchasing
120,000 viewers in addition to racking up
via livestreams, according to Forrester.
over 320,000 likes and interactions.
For premium and luxury brands, choosing

businessoffashion.com 18
Strategy

06 — Choose and Train a Compelling Host

While traditional influencers can help drive traffic to a broadcast, looking in-house for a host,
like Chinese department store Intime, has major advantages.

Brands are increasingly turning to store staff and designers to host livestreams in physical boutiques and offices. Getty Images.

Hosts are the stars of the show and worth trustworthy ambassadors and counteract fresh and charismatic who can adlib
investing in. “The key[s] to successful livestream fatigue. to create the sense of urgency that is
livestreams are authenticity and building expected in a stream, but they need to
It’s important that brands adapt to
a connection with your audience, so provide guidelines and no-go zones to
streamers’ schedules, adds Twitch’s
whoever is on camera needs to be ensure both parties are on the same page.
Harris. “Don’t force a streamer to show up
approachable and relatable to viewers,” And Luxe’s Yuan recommends brands
on a Saturday if they don’t usually; they
says Amazon Live’s Rahemtulla. The avoid having their hosts refer to politics,
organically have an audience at certain
ability to drive conversation and respond for example, but these parameters will
times.” And while brands may be tempted
to questions is also vital. differ case by case.
to provide hosts with a script to follow, he
The best person for the job, when it comes encourages them to refrain. “It’s not like “Livestream influencing can be magic,
to raising brand awareness and boosting TV or radio, if you read off a script, you’ll you just have to identify the right partners
sales, could be an influencer. When Kim lose the audience. [Hosts] know how to with a good track record,” said Yuan. “It’s
Kardashian West’s brand KKW Beauty speak to the audience, don’t come in and an art, there’s no science to it.”
entered the mainland China market in demand they say certain things.”
Doing due diligence with influencers’
2020, she tapped top livestreamer Viya,
Giving streamers too much free rein, sales and engagement data can also help
whose following totals over 74 million,
however, is high risk. Brands can’t edit brands avoid falling victim to inflated
to co-host an activation on Taobao Live.
out mistakes or faux pas made during figures. “China’s massive livestreaming
Even before the stream kicked off, 6,000
broadcasts, so vetting talent is key. industry has become riddled with fraud,
bottles of KKW perfume were sold in a
Influencers who are prone to exaggeration with some influencer agencies routinely
pre-sale campaign. According to Azoya,
should be avoided. Even if regulations hiring click farms to artificially inflate
15,000 bottles were sold in total thanks in
haven’t caught up with the industry yet, it their stars’ sales and viewing figures,”
part to Viya’s huge following.
is not worth the risk of hiring a host who online publication Sixthtone reported
But not all brands can afford top could flout advertising rules or business in May 2021. Fraud can and does occur
influencers and celebrities, and some may ethics. everywhere, however, so brands need to
want a host who is more relatable. Micro- tread carefully wherever they are active.
Another serious gamble is engaging a
and nano-influencers can provide a
host who could offend viewers and draw When selecting hosts, knowledge of the
targeted, less costly and more sustainable
backlash, as celebrities and influencers product offering is crucial. Securing
way for brands to outsource hosting
have done in the past with even a fleeting the right expert to appear in the
duties; the fact that they work with
remark. Often, brands look for someone livestream — from make-up artists
fewer brands (if at all) can make them

businessoffashion.com 19
 Strategy

and dermatologists to athletes and Likewise, local skin care brand Forest
trainers — can also lend authority and Cabin trained over 2,000 salespeople
trust to a session. According to a survey to livestream over lockdown. Though
by Forrester, 30 percent of European it temporarily closed more than 300
respondents aged 18-34 prefer local physical stores at the time, revenues
product experts as hosts, followed by increased by 45 percent year-on-year
general influencers and well-known for the period spanning February 1 to 15,
celebrities, at 25 and 14 percent 2020, founder Sun Laichun said.
respectively.
“Some people you’d never imagine
But talent is also available even closer are great in front of the camera,” says
to home: Increasingly, brands are also Bambuser’s Abrahamsson, who is seeing
turning to store associates, executives, a growing cohort of brands leverage their
managers and designers to host store staff to target specific demographics
livestreams in physical boutiques and through livestreaming, such as Chinese
offices. This strategy was a boon for some Americans, or Russians in the diaspora
brands and retailers in China during living across Europe. “Instead of meeting
lockdown in early 2020. two customers a day in a store, you can
stream to a target audience of a couple
Alibaba-owned Intime department
hundred thousand.”
store, which operates 65 locations across
the country, hosted 200 livestreams a While working with influencers and
day; over 5,000 sales associates hosted experts can be valuable additions to
livestreams and floor managers lent a brand’s feed, insourcing the hosting
a hand with scheduling. The chain duties for the bulk of a brand’s live content
managed to offset its losses and reach can help brands grow their channels in a
new shoppers, while strengthening its more sustainable, cost-effective manner.
omnichannel capabilities. According to Indeed, brands normally pay 200,000
Alibaba, more than 90 percent of orders to 300,000 yuan (around $30,972-
placed through the medium were from $46,300) for a 5- to 15-minute spot on
new customers, who the retailer added to Viya’s streams, an agency employee told
its database for in-store promotions when Sixthtone.
stores re-opened.
Inviting chief executives and other
company leaders to take the mic, even
for a short segment, brings customers
closer to the business and helps create a
sense of transparency. In 2020, Chinese
sportswear brand Peak’s chief executive
Xu Zhihua hosted the company’s first
livestream on Tmall and Douyin; the
Exhibit 7: Expertise Sells
broadcast accumulated 67,000 views and
the brand’s gross merchandise volume
Younger consumers in Europe prefer watching local product experts when shopping
hit 5 million yuan (around $771,676) in
through livestreams.
an hour.
“It doesn’t get any closer than [putting
Preferred type of livestream host when shopping online
your question to a brand’s founder or chief
Percentage of 18-34 year-old European respondents (Dec 2020)
executive] and it gives customers a real
sense of value,” says Qumin’s Ma. “That’s
how you build loyalty and get people to
Local Product Expert feel like they’re valued as customers.”
(e.g. Shop Assistant)
30
When it comes to training hosts that
aren’t livestreamers, it often takes
General Influencer 25 several attempts before they warm up
to the format, says Ntwrk’s Fitzgibbons.
He encourages hosts to not only show
the product being demo’ed but to repeat
Product-Specialist Influencer 16
its selling point two to three times over
the course of the stream. “You want to
articulate the key value proposition
Well-Known Celebrity 14 multiple times.”
Amazon Live’s Rahemtulla stresses
Overseas Manufacturers the importance of choosing an
10
and Retailers approachable, relatable and authentic
host, and encouraging them to show the
product in motion. “Helping customers
Source: Forrester Consulting Survey for AliExpress experience the products is a critical
element to a successful livestream as it
Note: Respondents include people interested in livestreaming on e-commerce makes shopping fun and gives them the
websites/apps on social media. N= 7,982
confidence to make informed purchase
decisions,” she says.
businessoffashion.com 20
Looking Ahead
While experts and executives don’t agree livestreaming as a sales-boosting tool. glasses and is working on a mixed reality
on whether livestreaming’s meteoric According to Amazon Live’s Rahemtulla, model, notes Qumin’s Ma, who predicts
rise in China can be replicated in other the e-commerce giant is working on the wider use of these products will
markets, data suggests that the industry a growing roster of events to bring further amplify livestreaming’s reach.
will continue going from strength to customers livestream-only discounts
The way brands and retailers think
strength over the next few years. from top brands.
about livestreaming has already changed
As it does, regulation will need to catch Like in China, luxury players may over the past year, says Bambuser’s
up. What is happening in China — where experience growing pains when Abrahamsson. Brands went from turning
viewing by minors, tipping limits, experimenting with the format in other to livestreams as a one-off, celebrity-
traffic fraud, counterfeit products and markets. But those that focus on building fuelled tool to replace physical events, to
false advertising are among the issues their brand’s digital presence — rather monetising it and using it weekly, if not
authorities are keeping a close watch on than pushing product — in an imaginative daily, to produce evergreen tutorials and
— is foreshadowing what will likely take yet exclusive way will legitimise guides that will continue to enrich their
place elsewhere. The cleaning up of the livestreams for the wider luxury industry. online presence. This is likely to continue
industry is of course in brands’ interests “It’s a creative canvas but it’s also the as businesses look to make the tool a more
as it will create a safer environment for future consumer, getting them identified sustainable, core addition to their online
both companies and users. “Only on a with the brand in new and different ways,” offering.
standardised, orderly and healthy basis says Twitch’s Harris, who is already seeing
Abrahamsson believes that the
can livestreaming develop for longer,” says an influx of luxury brands experimenting
livestreaming opportunity that has
Azoya’s Huang. with the platform.
manifested so far is just the tip of
Moving forward, brands can expect to see And as technology advances, the iceberg; she sees livestreaming
more shopping festivals, like YouTube’s livestreaming will become more growing beyond discovery and sales to
Beauty Fest, Amazon’s Beauty Haul immersive and effective. Apple has revolutionise customer service, in-store
Live and Ntwrk’s Transfer Fest, adopt already filed a patent for virtual reality experiences, personal shopping and every
other aspect of retail. “We know that the
internet has gone from text to image to
video to live,” she says.
“We are, in many cases, interacting
through video — there’s no reason why
Exhibit 8: The Rise and Rise of Livestream E-Commerce
e-commerce and shopping will not
happen this way too. Once you get used to
While some critics suggest livestreaming has already peaked in popularity, forecasts
something that elevates an experience, I
suggest that global livestream sales will nearly triple in the next four years.
can’t see why we’d turn back.”
Global livestreaming e-commerce sales (2019-2025 F) Only time will tell whether livestreaming
USD (Billions) goes mainstream as an essential tool for
+30.2% fashion and beauty brands to engage with
CAGR (2021 F - 2025 F) a substantial segment of their consumer
base, or whether it will continue to be an
optional add-on. But as platforms and
893 consumers continue moving towards a
video-led retail model, brands will need
to experiment in the meantime to find out
765
what works for them.

650 “It’s very impactful but I don’t think it’s

going to completely upend the industry,”
predicts Tech Buzz China’s Ma. “People
498 really want a story, a direct connection,
and real-time feedback and to co-create.
Livestream is just a more open way of
communication.”
311

172

66

2019 2020 2021 F 2022 F 2023 F 2024 F 2025 F

Source: Grand View Research

businessoffashion.com 21
Further Reading
• McKinsey & Company, How Live Commerce Is Transforming the Shopping Experience
• Sixth Tone, China’s Hottest Livestream Trend: Fraud
• CNBC, These Two Companies Could Make Inroads in the $11 Billion US Livestream Shopping Market
• The Business of Fashion, Who Is Actually Livestream Shopping? ​​
• Bloomberg, Livestreams Are the Future of Shopping in America
• Nikkei Asia, Japan Struggles To Replicate China’s ‘Live Commerce’ Boom
• Jing Daily, Next-Level Livestreaming: How Luxury Brands Can Profit From China’s Top E-Commerce Trend
• The Business of Fashion, How Impactful Were the Digital Fashion Week Shows, Really?
• The Business of Fashion, Caught in the Crosshairs of China’s Livestreaming Crackdown
• The Business of Fashion, Luxury’s Livestreaming Gamble
• Alizila, How Chinese Department-Store Chain Intime Survived Covid-19, Online and Offline
• The Business of Fashion, Live Stream Apps Are Changing the Way People Shop

businessoffashion.com 22
Copyright © 2021, The Business of Fashion Ltd. All rights reserved

All information contained herein is the sole property of The Business of Fashion Limited. The Business of Fashion Limited reserves
all rights regarding the use of this information. Any unauthorised use, such as distributing, copying, modifying, or reprinting, is
not permitted. Please contact professional@businessoffashion.com for more copies.

Design by Chelsea Carpenter

Edited by Robb Young and Hannah Crump
Front cover images: Dunhill, DVF, Moda Operandi, Instagram, Ntwrk

Discover our complete online courses and learning resources at: businessoffashion.com/education

info@businessofashion.com

businessoffashion.com 23