The race to integrate shopping into social media in the US kicked into high gear this year.
Big social platforms including YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are adding new commerce features at a fast clip. A slew of startups have also been rushing to introduce products and services that help brands, influencers, and — perhaps most importantly — consumers get used to the idea of buying on social media.
Some companies, like Whatnot and Flip, are building separate apps for brands and creators to sell products through livestreams. Other upstarts, such as Orca and Ghost Agency, are taking a more agnostic approach, working with brands on live-selling production for platforms like TikTok or Twitch.
The goal for many of these companies is to offer products and services that encourage US buyers to act more like consumers in Asia, where shoppable videos and livestream influencers drive billions in product sales each year.
Orca cofounder and CEO Max Benator told Insider he was blown away by the maturity of the live-shopping ecosystem in China, which he witnessed first-hand during a recent business trip.
“What I saw was incredible,” he said, pointing to a series of training programs in the country where companies teach livestream hosts how to effectively pitch goods to users. “Here people are still learning,” he said of the US market.
Importing shopping habits from other parts of the world to the US isn’t an easy task.
Some upstarts are finding ways to tap into existing US consumer behaviors. The startup Ntwrk built a business on exclusive product drops from well-known celebrities and designers, a selling style popular among streetwear brands, for example.
Insider compiled a list of nine startups that are helping creators, brands, retailers, and consumers break into social shopping in the US. We vetted nominations from industry experts, readers, and the major social-media platforms.
Here are the companies, listed in alphabetical order:
Read the full article here
