Live streaming is gaining popularity overseas, and Facebook and others are launching new features to empower cross-border e-commerce

Live streaming is the general trend of e-commerce marketing , and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the development of live streaming . In the past few months, almost all major social media platforms in the United States have expanded and developed live streaming features to promote the integration and development of social media platforms and e-commerce .

This article summarizes some innovative measures taken by mainstream social media platforms in live streaming :

Facebook : Facebook launched Live Shopping as early as August 2020 , allowing businesses to sell their products in real time while interacting with shoppers live . This year , Facebook launched "Live Shopping Fridays" . During this period, e-commerce sellers can showcase products through Facebook's live shopping function. During the live broadcast, customers can click on the relevant products to learn about the product details , add the products to their shopping cart, and then check out to purchase .

Instagram: The platform first launched the live shopping feature for merchants using its in-app payment system Instagram Checkout in May 2020. In March this year , Instagram launched the live broadcast product Live Rooms, allowing three anchors to sell goods together in the same live broadcast room .

Pinterest: In late May 2021, Pinterest held its first in-app live broadcast event, with 21 content creators serving as live broadcasters . Viewers can interact with the anchors through comments and purchase products promoted by e-commerce sellers in the live broadcast.

TikTok: Following the pilot of the live shopping program in December 2020, TikTok partnered with Walmart to host a second live shopping event on the platform in March 2021. Walmart has not yet provided sales data for the first live event, but according to public data, Walmart 's actual number of views in March was seven times higher than expected, and the number of followers on its TikTok account increased by 25%.

Looking beyond China , livestreaming is still in its infancy. As features expand and improve, livestreaming is expected to become a major driver of e-commerce sales growth. In a Q4 2020 GlobalWebIndex survey, 22% of livestream viewers in the U.S. and the U.K. said that offering a “buy” button during a livestream was the biggest driver of purchases.