Dive Brief:
Walmart is planning its second shoppable livestream on social video app TikTok, this time to showcase beauty products. The retail chain s Spring Shop-Along: Beauty Edition will let viewers order products directly from Walmart s TikTok channel starting at 9 p.m. ET on March 11, per a company blog post.
L Oréal s Maybelline and NYX Cosmetics brands, Bliss, The Lip Bar, Kim Kimble and Marc Jacobs fragrances will be among those demonstrated by creators during the 60-minute interactive tutorial. Creators including Gabby Morrison, who has 3.5 million followers on TikTok, will demonstrate their favorite beauty products from Walmart as they share their skincare, makeup and hair routines and offer tutorials on popular trends.
Walmart to host a new livestream shopping event on TikTok, following successful pilot
In December, Walmart partnered with TikTok on the first pilot test of a new livestreamed shopping experience in the U.S. on the video platform. That test seemingly performed well, as today Walmart announced it will return to TikTok to host another livestream shopping event, the “Spring Shop-Along: Beauty Edition,” which will feature TikTok creators and influencers in an hour-long livestream.
The retailer didn’t disclose to what extent its first TikTok live shopping event drove sales, but noted that it netted 7x more views than it had anticipated and was able to grow its TikTok follower base by 25%. These metrics were encouraging enough to send Walmart back to the platform for another go this time, to promote beauty products instead of apparel, which had been the focus of the holiday livestream.
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Retailers Bringing Chinese Livestream Shopping Events to Americans
U.S. companies are beginning to adopt an online retail model widely used in China: livestreaming e-commerce.
Livestreaming e-commerce is the live promotion and selling of products via social media influencers either on their own channels or on the channel of an e-commerce platform. In China, it is mostly held on a channel hosted by one of the online shopping giants such as Alibaba.
Livestreaming retail is not completely new. The experience is akin to a segment on the QVC or Home Shopping Network, but the Chinese shows are often much more energetic and hosted by young, charismatic celebrities hawking the products. The segments are not fully focused on the shopping, as some sessions feature live performances and other variety shows.