Livestream shopping is finally carving out a role in the US, even as adoption trails well behind China. For years, the format was held up as ecommerce's next frontier. Now it's settling in not as a replacement for traditional ecommerce, but as a different kind of shopping experience.

• US livestream retail ecommerce sales will reach $19.8 billion this year, up 35% YoY, according to an EMARKETER forecast.
• More than 58 million US consumers are expected to make a purchase through a livestream this year, representing nearly one-quarter of digital buyers.

Whatnot's latest milestone underscores that momentum: The marketplace recently surpassed 1 billion orders just six and a half years after launch, while shoppers spent more than $75 million on the platform during Black Friday.

Its growth points to a shift in how some consumers want to shop online. Instead of arriving with a product already in mind, they're increasingly willing to browse, ask questions, and buy in real time.

"Traditional legacy ecommerce is basically just a giant Sears catalog," said Tom Verrilli, Whatnot's chief product officer. "Very intent driven. Whatnot is literally more like going to the mall, where you come to shop, but you don't always know exactly what you're coming to buy."

That browsing behavior appears to be expanding. Cross-category purchasing on Whatnot increased 170% over the past year, suggesting shoppers who originally came for collectibles are becoming comfortable buying everything from beauty products to apparel.

Why beauty works particularly well

Not every category translates equally well to livestreaming.

• Beauty is one of the clearest fits because products often require explanation, demonstration, and reassurance before purchase.
• Over a quarter (28%) of livestream shoppers have purchased beauty or skincare products, making it one of the format's leading categories, according to Adobe data.

For Theboyzzz, a beauty seller that has spent four years building an audience on Whatnot, the livestream itself functions less like a sales pitch than a consultation.

"What makes beauty a different category than most is that it's very testimonial based," said Merik Smith, co-founder of Theboyzzz. "We let [hosts] play around with a bunch of different items, like skincare and makeup."

The format rewards expertise and personality over polished advertising, which is changing who brands look for when hiring hosts.

"We're noticing that those performing the best already have a creator-style background," said Theboyzzz co-founder Zion Beron. "People who already have experience making videos or going live themselves."

That increasingly blurs the line between creator marketing and retail media.

• Live chat interaction (46%) is one of the most effective engagement tactics for driving live shopping purchases according to brands, found Adobe.
• Rather than using creators simply to drive traffic, brands are relying on them to close the sale.

The opportunity extends beyond the livestream

The live event is only part of the purchase journey.

• Nearly one-quarter (24%) of purchases happen after a livestream ends, per Adobe.
• According to brands, the most effective ways to drive post-stream purchases are promo codes (47%), product links pinned or reposted (39%), and follow-up emails or texts (39%).

For sellers, that also raises the stakes on execution after checkout.

"There's nothing more important than customer experience," Beron said. "The quality of our packaging, fulfillment, shipping time, camera quality, the way we present ourselves on camera, it all matters."

That emphasis reflects a broader reality of livestream commerce: Entertainment may win the first purchase, but fulfillment determines whether shoppers come back.

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