“This top is a deal for $22!,” Powell says in a
recent video about a leopard print sweater she’s
wearing. “It’s just very, very well made, y’all!”
Livestream selling, already popular in China, is
taking off in the U.S., ushering in a new way for
Americans to shop online. Instead of searching
for what they want, they pick up their phones, sit
back, and click to buy if they like what they see.
This way of shopping is expected to ring up
nearly $5 billion in sales this year, and reach
$25 billion in 2023, according to retail data firm
Coresight Research.
The pandemic is helping to fuel the boom.
Business owners with closed stores have taken
to livestreaming to sell animal print tops, heated
eyelash curlers and just about anything else.
They have a captive audience: Many Americans
stuck at home with nowhere to go are looking
for something to watch. At the same time, tech
companies, including Facebook, Instagram and
Amazon, have made it easy for businesses to
livestream from their smartphones.
No one would confuse these videos for the
more polished programing on home shopping
channels QVC or HSN. Cameras fall. Sometimes
the video is upside down. And the WiFi crashes.
But Powell, who livestreams from Jennaration’s
5,500-square-foot warehouse, says people
tune in because her videos are relatable,
like when her son shows up and makes faces
at the camera.
“It’s real life. It’s not like looking at a Victoria’s
Secret catalog. I’m a real person,” says Powell,
whose livestreams helped her 7-year-old
business nail its best-selling month in April, even
though her stores were shut.