Nordstrom Launches a Livestream Shopping Channel in the U.S.

Nordstrom announced it will debut its own Livestream Shopping channel as part of a broader strategy to dive into e-commerce livestreaming, CNBC reported. E-commerce livestreaming is already very popular in Asia, and brands are trying to replicate that trend here.

Shoppable livestreams, similar to QVC, have been slower to take off in the U.S. According to CNBC, this is because American consumers are less open to the idea of buying items via livestream and because there are fewer multichannel networks here compared to overseas. CNBC reported that in China, livestreaming is estimated to have driven about $125 billion in sales in 2020. It also reported that in the U.S., the market was worth about $6 billion in 2020 and could reach $11 billion in 2021.

In the coming months, Nordstrom will host livestreams such as “how to wear Burberry runway looks,” a spring beauty trend happy hour, and a conversation with the British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury. During each event, viewers will be able to shop the items mentioned in the livestream, which are available to purchase on Nordstrom’s website. Viewers will also be able to participate in a live chatroom. One of Nordstrom's goals of the Livestream Shopping channel is to get closer to its customers.

Total Retail's Take: This is an interesting move from Nordstrom. More retailers and brands are turning to e-commerce livestreaming as way to engage with and sell to increasingly digital audiences, particularly among younger consumers. The latter part — attracting a younger customer demographic — is a priority for the upscale department store chain.

In early 2019, Amazon.com debuted Amazon Live, a livestream home shopping network. Social media networks like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have been making shopping a bigger focus on their platforms recently. For example, TikTok hosted a shoppable livestream event with Walmart, where users could browse the retailer's fashion items highlighted by TikTok creators. Nordstrom is willing to test what the channel can do to help its efforts to grow digital sales, but attract a younger customer at the same time.