Andreessen Horowitz exec predicts livestreaming shopping revolution

The next Amazon competitor is set to be a social or video app, not a shopping app.

That’s the view of Connie Chan, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and board member at HYSTA.

In a Twitter thread, she says: “For Amazon to fight against this shopping revolution, it's going to need to change from a text-centric, search driven platform to one that delivers on discovery - users have to want to open the app without a specific intent to buy. Imagine going to the mall with no agenda.”

“Shopping is fun in real life. You can go with friends, treasure hunt for bargains, discover new products, better understand a brand’s vibe, ask store reps questions, and also touch and feel items so you have more confidence you’re going to love it,” she adds.

Livestreaming e-commerce comes close to replicating all that fun, Chan argues. You can shop with other viewers, ask questions and get real-time answers, and experience FOMO with limited time promotions.

The revolution will combine e-commerce and entertainment, where both are equal in importance, Chan believes. “Toss in gamification and boom. We may see waves of new brands and more pricing transparency for everything... products and services, alike,” she says.

This shopping revolution happened first in China. And that’s because Taobao was a discovery platform (ad model) from day one, so product discovery with media and visuals is built into the company’s DNA. Social livestreaming, that monetises with tipping, is also a much more mature industry.

In China, livestreaming shopping works best for lower price points, say <$30, where it’s somewhat of an impulse purchase. But big items can also work, like cars and appliances during promotional events. Categories that work best are clothing, cosmetics and food.

There are a lot of features we can glean from China, Chan observes. Instead of badges, Taobao lets viewers become level 1-4 per host. Levels are earned by interacting with hosts, buying their products, and sharing the livestream. They reveal a lot about how big of a fan the viewer is!

There are also useful features, like seeing when an influencer is going to stream next, and if it’s not scheduled, to get a notification when they go live. There’s also sticker overlays of the host's height and weight so viewers can guess how well clothes fit on themselves.