As the pandemic made it much harder for people to do their usual shopping, many brands and retail companies have taken a cue from QVC and focused their efforts on livestream shopping, writes Jacqueline Navas for CR Fashion Book.

However, instead of a middle-aged woman selling Tupperware on the West Chester-based home-shopping network, a new kind of livestream shopping is taking over social media through virtual trunk shows and Instagram Lives with influencers.

This trend has especially taken root in China. There, the most famous influencer, Viya Huang, tests and displays various items to audiences that often exceed the number of viewers the Oscars gets.

In the U.S., many retailers are pushing their versions of livestreaming systems, including Amazon’s Amazon Live, which launched before the pandemic using a format that is very similar to that of QVC. Hosts promote various products that can be ordered by users on the spot.

Meanwhile, Walmart is targeting Gen-Z in its livestream shopping efforts by hosting “shop-alongs” on TikTok, where influencers interact with their millions of followers and encourage them to do some major shopping.

Read more about the future of livestream shopping at CR Fashion Book here.