The Death of Livestream Shopping
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
— T. S. Elliott
This week, Instagram announced the end of their livestream shopping service, an announcement we have been predicting for over two years.
From The Senses in 2021:
If livestream shopping was a significant source of future revenue growth [for Instagram] we’d have A) seen it by now or B) seen breakout numbers on their many tests and recent Shopify integration support. But we haven’t.
Despite the clamor from the Analyst Industrial Complex, the likes of which include Coresight Research and DigitalCommerce360, livestream shopping has yet to gain traction in the U.S.
Instagram’s departure from the market will likely disappoint analysts (and the live shopping startups who sponsored the industry reports).
While the Chinese market’s demand for livestream shopping continues to grow, we’ve only seen recent setbacks for the modality here in the West.
Facebook ended livestream shopping in October, TikTok’s live commerce ambitions ended in July, and Amazon’s service continues to see steady deprioritization in its app.
This is the way livestream shopping ends. Not with a bang. But with a whimper.
— Phillip
P.S. if you want the full scoop as to why the West just wasn’t ready for amateur QVC, check out this thread of “17 Reason Why Livestream Shopping will Never Happen in the West”, written by yours truly.
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