It was a huge success sales-wise too. Shopee said some sellers saw their orders increase 10 times on the day, with one merchant raking in $744k alone. This isn’t a lone example either. In 2019, live selling generated $60bn in sales globally, particularly in Asia where the practice is more established.

Chinese platforms, like Taobao and Tmall, are major destinations for live selling. The latter recently broadcast a Kim Kardashian livestream that sold 15k bottles of perfume in just a few minutes.

This technology is obviously lucrative as it is, but where could it go next? Another rising trend may give us an idea.

Pay-as-you-control

Taylor Lorenz recently published a piece for the New York Times detailing a range of apps and services where users can pay to influence the influencers.

Take NewNew, which has already attracted popular YouTubers like Lev Cameron to the platform, where users vote on actions people should take. This could be around anything from what clothes to wear that day to what their next piece of content will be about.

The app only launched in September last year, so it’s still in its infancy. But it demonstrates a rising trend in the increased power of the viewer, transforming them from a passive spectator to actively controlling what they see on their screens.

And where influencers go, we know brands follow. The opportunities are clear here, with product placements and sponsorships in platforms like NewNew an obvious one (if it’s not happening already).

Of course, if there’s voting involved, no brand wants to risk their product losing. It follows then that they would prefer the vote to be between their own products, such as which ice cream flavor the influencer should try, or which TV show the influencer should watch on their network.

When this occurs, we essentially have live promotion. And if retail functionality is added (like we’ve seen on Instagram), there’s little distinction between this and live selling (which itself already includes viewer polls).

Meanwhile, big players in the retail space are also dialling up their efforts to gather consumer feedback in increasingly creative ways.

Lego recently announced plans to go on a hiring spree of digital workers. A big reason for this is that a person uploads their own custom creations to one of Lego’s digital platforms every 2.77 seconds in the hopes it’ll actually get made.

Meanwhile, Amazon has just launched their Build It concept, where they’ll use pre-orders to decide which ideas will actually go into production.

Taking consumer feedback and ideas into consideration isn’t anything new, but both of these examples show its growing prominence and how digital technology enables and shapes it.

Live-seizing the means of production

So what’s next?

It’s easy to see a convergence of live selling and the increasing control handed over to consumers. If we’re willing to pay to choose what game an influencer plays (which already happens on NewNew), there’s even more we’d be willing to control for free.

Brands, with influencers hosting, could produce entire shows dedicated not only to promoting their products, but to allowing consumers to choose what gets made, what’s added to sales, or even the price of a product.

For example, a make up brand could be considering two lipsticks to manufacture. They set up an hour-long livestream in their chosen app. Two big influencers are brought on, one lipstick assigned to each. They’ll argue, debate, and promote their lipstick, with entertainment a key focus, as it is with live selling already.

Part game show, part promotion, part consumer research, it ends with a vote and viewers are invited to place their orders for the product that triumphs. With much fanfare, the production order is given and factory machines whir to life manufacturing the chosen lipstick.

In the process, the brand has an engaged audience clamoring for their product, and a ton of feedback and consumer insight to use for future products. Sales, data, and engagement all in one. It’s a no brainer.

How long before entire product lines are regularly chosen on the whim of a livestream audience? It could be just around the corner.

Get more retail trends, insights, and data in our brand new report, including analyses around local shopping, new retail technologies, and the food and beverage industry.

Thanks for reading

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Brandwatch React team