Manrika Khaira is a social media influencer that regularly broadcasts live on TikTok, demonstrating how she gets ready in tutorial style videos all while marketing cheap or discounted beauty products. She states that she needs to “…build a reputation of trust.” Khaira is now one of the top sellers on TikTok Shop, the short video app’s live e-commerce function, thanks to her strategy. It enables her audience to purchase the goods she advertises right on the app, via a clickable orange basket in the lower-left corner of the display. In an effort to capitalize on a sector that has seen tremendous success in China, where live e-commerce sales are anticipated to hit $423 billion this year, social media networks are counting on this model as the future of shopping. TikTok isn’t the only platform testing live e-commerce; platforms like Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram have also done so.
Social Media’s Big Bet: The Shopping Revolution Will Be Livestreamed
