Livestream ecommerce takes off in Latin America

The trend: After success in the Asia-Pacific region, livestream ecommerce is quickly gaining momentum in Latin America, with 46% of the region’s surveyed respondents having used the channel to purchase products online as of April 2022, per Wunderman Thompson. This compares with just 31% in Western Europe, 45% in the US, and 58% in Asia-Pacific.

• Consumer inability to physically see or interact with a product has long been an Achilles’ heel to broader ecommerce adoption in Latin America—a pain point that livestream ecommerce is poised to mitigate.
• The relatively new shopping channel’s popularity has surged in countries like Colombia and Mexico, per Wunderman Thompson, as consumers seek out more interactive and personalized digital experiences from brands.

Why it matters: Live shopping will be key to reaching new audiences, engaging shoppers, and driving online sales.

• Product demonstrations ranked highest among the types of ads that internet users in Latin America pay most attention to when buying a product, per a July 2022 survey by Logan and mediasmart.
• When used as part of a broader digital marketing strategy, live shopping events will enable brands to build long-term customer relationships by delivering memorable experiences through a two-way dialogue.

Our prediction: Brands will choose live commerce as their experimental channel in 2023. Meanwhile, other emerging formats, like the metaverse, will not garner the same attention.

• The majority of internet users in Latin America know what the metaverse is, but few have actually used it for shopping.

Go further: For the full deep dive on opportunities to reach consumers in Latin America, including retail media and AVOD, see our recent Latin America Trends to Watch for 2023.