North American live shopping platform NTWRK completes $50 million in financing

According to foreign media reports, NTWRK, a leading live shopping platform in North America, has recently completed a $50 million financing. The financing was led by Kering, a luxury group under Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and co-invested by LionTree Partners and Tenere Capital. The funds from this round of financing will be used by NTWRK to develop new online live shopping methods.

So far, NTWRK has more than 2 million users

NTWRK is a live shopping platform targeting Generation Z and millennials . The platform provides sellers with a platform to sell goods to consumers and interact with them in real time. Since the platform was launched in 2018 , NTWRK has more than 2 million users . According to App Annie, NTWRK's app downloads increased by 85% year-on-year.

In addition to live video shopping, NTWRK has also added live events and virtual festivals to attract viewers and consumers. For example, NTWRK's tenth shopping festival, TRANSFER 2021, attracted more than 250,000 global shoppers.

On the NTWRK platform, exclusive product placement, narrative-driven content, engaging hosts, the convenience of online purchasing and social communication create a high-quality and broad experience for buyers and sellers .

NTWRK is merging entertainment and commerce to empower brands, artists and celebrities to create original content and sell their exclusive merchandise.

Aaron Levant, CEO of NTWRK, said that he was honored that Kering and other investors participated in this financing. NTWRK's vision is to become the largest live shopping platform that combines pop culture and will be committed to providing a high-quality shopping experience for Generation Z and millennials. In addition, NTWRK's products, sellers and buyers' community will make it a leader in the emerging streaming shopping industry.

Gregory Boutté, Kering's Chief Customer and Digital Officer, said that investing in NTWRK is part of Kering's development strategy. Kering is developing disruptive experiences for the next generation of luxury consumers, and joining e-commerce live streaming is a very effective means. We will enhance online sales through live streaming with goods.

Live e-commerce in the U.S. is expected to reach $25 billion by 2025

Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, livestreaming has provided opportunities for retailers and brands in the US market , while also satisfying the consumption needs of consumers who are staying at home due to the pandemic .

Livestreaming sales was previously a small market segment in the United States, but now it is developing rapidly around the world. In 2019, the total value of the global livestreaming e-commerce industry was approximately $60 billion. Coresight's forecast of the statistical results shows that this number has doubled in 2020.

NTWRK also stated in this statement that the consumption mode of live streaming with goods still has great development potential in the United States. They estimate that the amount of live streaming shopping in the United States will reach 11 billion US dollars in 2021 and will grow to 25 billion US dollars by 2025.

Regarding live streaming platforms, in addition to leading companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Facebook, there are also many startups in the United States such as NTWRK, TalkShopLive , Shopflix, Brandlive, CommentSales , and various retailers, all of which are sharing the "big cake" of the live streaming e-commerce market. It is understood that the number of retailers trying live streaming in the US market has also increased by more than three times.

Especially during the epidemic, TalkShopLive's sales increased by about seven times, and Brandlive's revenue in 2020 doubled year-on-year. In addition, CommentSold's average single audience consumption also increased by 50% this year.

Among the hot-selling products in live e-commerce, a survey shows that most live e-commerce services in the US market focus on female consumers , so beauty products have always been the best-selling product type in the live e-commerce industry . And the amount of money spent by female consumers on this type of product is far greater than that of male consumers.

NTWRK

North America