This is how German consumers think about live commerce

The search and comparison portal GetApp has examined the use of live shopping in Germany. At live commerce events, products and services are offered and sold in the live stream of digital platforms. Social media channels such as Instagram or Facebook are predestined for this; but also video portals such as YouTube; TV sales are not part of Live Shopping.

Selling via live stream has a number of advantages for customers: The events offer an interactive experience, as viewers can interact live with the moderators, ask questions or discuss with other prospective buyers. The sales method comes from China and is now known there as a fixed sales format. Live shopping reached around 750 million users in China last year.

Live Commerce in Germany – still in its infancy

The majority of customers surveyed (67 percent) are already familiar with the concept; but in this country only 33 percent of them have already taken part in a live commerce event themselves (20 percent once so far, 13 percent several times).

After all, almost 40 percent (38 percent) stated that they had not yet tested live commerce shopping but were interested in it.

Popular live commerce platforms

The vast majority (66 percent) of those who have already attended live commerce events use social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to do so. However, this group appears to prefer video streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, with a 70 percent usage rate.

Users use live shopping offers because it allows them to discover new brands and products (34 percent), buy items online (30 percent), and for entertainment (29 percent). Clothing and fashion (51 percent), food and beverages (41 percent), and electronic products are also bought particularly frequently via live streams.

70 percent of live shoppers state that they have already bought something that they saw at such an event. At the same time, a large proportion (81 percent) is “very satisfied” (41 percent) or at least “somewhat satisfied” (40 percent) with the overall experience of live shopping.

Influencers as moderators?

According to the study participants, influencers are best suited as moderators of sales events (34 percent). Product experts follow in second place (29 percent). Younger consumers prefer influencers as moderators because their marketing is primarily aimed at this target group.

In contrast, older consumers believe that product experts are the right choice. Consumers who have so far only been interested in live commerce also see it that way. By a clear margin (65 percent) they chose product experts as moderators, a small minority of 7 percent of these respondents sees the potential in influencers.

Reasons for interest in live shopping

Respondents cited discovering new brands and products and buying goods online as the top reasons they enjoy live commerce (42 percent each). Close behind (41 percent) follows curiosity about the course of the sales event.

More than half (53 percent) named online marketplaces as their preferred platform, followed by video streaming platforms (51 percent) and social media platforms with video capabilities (48 percent). The product categories clothing (60 percent), electronics (54 percent) and household needs as well as decoration (43 percent) are particularly popular.

The advantages from the point of view of interested parties

• Product presentation, possibility to communicate with the audience (in real time) via integrated chat functions: Questions and requests can be considered
• See products live and how they work without having to enter a store (63 percent)
• received detailed product descriptions (42 percent).

Disadvantages – what can discourage customers from live shopping

• additional time spent in front of the computer or smartphone due to the sales events (37 percent)
• Concern that the products shown might not match the actual products (34 percent)
• Generation X (37 percent) and baby boomers see technical difficulties as the greatest challenge
• personal information must be given on the platform (34 percent each).

Over a quarter of those surveyed (29 percent) have had no experience with live stream shopping events and are not interested in them either. The majority of these respondents (67 percent) state that they are already satisfied with traditional shopping methods. 31 percent do not want to be influenced even more by brands; 24 percent are skeptical about the handling of their personal data by video platforms.

Future of live shopping in Germany

Live commerce has not really arrived in Germany yet. 41 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that live shopping will remain a niche shopping method in the future, i.e. that only a small part of the population will know and use the sales method.

On the other hand, 38 percent believe that live shopping will become a way of shopping for a broad section of the population, since the method combines online purchases with entertainment and new formats such as reels can also be integrated, which appeals to younger target groups in particular.

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