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Click here to view our full forecast for US livestreaming retail ecommerce buyers. Livestreaming ecommerce isn鈥檛 as big in the US as it is in China, but it has proven to be tenable. Its popularity in China, where 47.2% of digital buyers will be livestream buyers, remains unmatched.

YouTube trails Twitch for livestreaming content. In Q4 2024, Twitch saw 3.81 billion hours of livestreamed viewing versus 2.27 billion hours for YouTube Gaming, per Streamcharts. Viewership of 鈥渙ther鈥� gaming content is YouTube鈥檚 strength. In June 2024, gameplay content on YouTube reached 6 billion views.

Senior luxury buyers are a key audience for livestreaming. More than 31% of respondents ages 65 and older had either used or were interested in livestreaming to make a luxury purchase, higher than any other group and well above the average of 23.4%.

Men have a greater interest in livestream shopping than women do, according to ESW. Almost 25% of men made a purchase from a livestream on a social media platform in 2024 compared with 14.3% of women. Men are also more likely than women to have watched a livestream (27.4% versus 21.9%), and men are more interested in viewing livestream shopping/videos from brands (20.5% versus 15.1%).

McDonald鈥檚 targets Gen Zers with limited-time Chicken Big Mac offering: The QSR is supporting the launch with a campaign that highlights dupe culture, livestreaming, and other generational touchstones.

The platform just introduced a new feature that allows creators to livestream in full portrait mode for the first time, reflecting the mobile-first mindset of many Gen Zers and aligning more closely to how users consume content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

While other platforms chase game highlights and livestreams, Pinterest鈥檚 value lies in its lifestyle adjacency鈥攆andom expressed through outfits, snacks, and social moments.

The news: QVC is hosting nonstop livestreams on TikTok, a first for the platform, as it looks to social commerce to revive its business. The strategy: QVC is betting on TikTok to offset the decline of linear TV, which is causing the retailer to hemorrhage customers and sales.

Standing out in a sea of platforms: Neptune aims to reward creativity with diverse monetization streams, including tips, subscriptions, and livestreams. The app is shifting focus away from algorithms and metrics to reduce performative stress on creators.

Livestreaming will see only incremental gains. As more established players such as Zara and Puma dip their toes in the format, livestream sales could pick up. But most spending growth will come from shoppable videos, affiliate marketing, and social storefronts. TikTok Shop will challenge Facebook for the social commerce crown.

Xiaohongshu is also expanding its livestreaming business, which features content that鈥檚 often related to community-building rather than the sales-focused livestreams seen on other platforms. The number of official livestreaming accounts increased fivefold YoY in April 2024, per company data. Ad revenue and sales growth has been robust, helping Xiaohongshu reach profitability.

Livestream shopping gains steam in the US: Twenty-four percent of US consumers have participated in a livestream shopping event, up from 16% last year, which is why Shein and Zara are investing in the channel.

Twitch鈥檚 share of the livestreaming market is steadily declining鈥攇oing from 71% in 2023 to 61% in 2024, per Digiday鈥攖hough it is still by and far the leader in this market. Our take: Despite Twitch having a lack of legitimate livestreaming competitors, not every brand sees this market as warranting investment.

For awards shows and sports, real-time engagement is everything鈥攙iewers expect flawless live streaming, not just a replay. The Oscars meltdown is part of a broader trend of technical failures in live streaming. As platforms continue to replace traditional TV, ensuring reliability will be essential to retaining subscribers and securing exclusive event partnerships in the future.

This is followed by in-person events, interactive content, video, livestreams, and podcasts鈥攁ll ways in which buyers can directly engage with the expert voices they trust. B2C alternatives are growing in popularity. Differentiation is the key driver. In many B2B industries, intense competition makes it hard for companies to stand out.

Brands must stay abreast of trending and viral content, manage relationships with creators, tackle logistical hurdles and discount pressures, and be willing to experiment with livestreaming, which TikTok is pushing heavily for brands. Gen Alpha is rising to meet Gen Z as influential beauty consumers. Connecting with rising consumers requires ever-evolving approaches.

However, this year鈥檚 technical difficulties, including Hulu cutting off the live stream before announcing the final two awards, could hurt viewership in the future鈥攁nd with only a 1% increase, Sunday鈥檚 ceremony proved that live streaming big events isn鈥檛 always enough to drive significantly higher viewership.

Twitch, a platform dedicated primarily to gaming livestreams, is also popular in gaming spaces. However, it lacks the interactive component that has made Discord a leader in collaborative play. Millennials are enthusiastic gamers into adulthood. Millennials are the most likely to play on the latest consoles, according to a July 2024 survey by Collage Group.

TikTok Shop's sales nearly quadrupled in 2023, driven by short-video and livestream shopping trends that resonate with the region's consumers. Its omnichannel strategy, which leverages its massive user base, has made it a key competitor to established players like Lazada and Shopee. Shein and Temu are rapidly rising in Australia.

The popularity of livestreaming ecommerce is spreading to other parts of the world besides China. But not every market has embraced this new retail format to the same degree.

Its 2023 Members Week event featured a cardholder-only livestream of Olivia Rodrigo. The issuer has supplemented its generous travel and entertainment rewards with perks that make its cards more like lifestyle cards than just travel cards, per Morningstar鈥檚 research. Younger generations are also less interested in brand-specific loyalty programs, which could also push them away from co-brand cards.

TikTok Shop is far from DOA, but early reports suggest its rollout hasn鈥檛 been easy. As TikTok works to build its livestreaming and in-app commerce business in the US, including by restructuring its commerce division, US merchants must decide whether the investment is worth it.

Social platforms are experimenting with shoppable ads, affiliate integrations, and livestream shopping鈥攚ith varying degrees of success鈥攁ll of which blur the lines between content and commerce. As new channels emerge, so do new challenges. Partnerships between retailers and fintech or travel players could unlock new inventory and insights.

Netflix鈥檚 latest move means big things for its livestream ambitions: The company will stream the SAG Awards on YouTube this year and on its own platform next year.

A good chunk of this share is going to livestreaming. The larger marketing potential that TikTok offers is significant. While other platforms have been dialing back their livestream commerce efforts, TikTok appears to be making positive strides in this direction. And the branding opportunities within this environment are turning marketers鈥� heads.