Nykaa gives a peek into its live commerce ambitions

Beauty and fashion e-commerce firm Nykaa, which had a blockbuster public market listing earlier this month, is giving consumers a peek into its live commerce ambitions at its ongoing flagship sale event.

Nykaa is currently running influencer-led live shopping events as part of its 'Pink Friday Sale', an annual sale event that is likely a spin on the Black Friday sales phenomenon.

This development comes on heels of Flipkart-owned Myntra launching a similar platform M-Live as the online fashion store looks to expand its social commerce business.

Moneycontrol reviewed these live sessions conducted by popular Instagram influencer Dolly Singh who was offering time-bound discounts on various cosmetic brands such as Maybelline, MAC, and HUDA to consumers in a bid to nudge them to buy these products live.

The firm is currently using YouTube for livestreaming purposes. Users were able to post questions, share comments, see other comments and post emojis during the sessions.

A dedicated product tray at the bottom, branded as 'Dolly Recommends' showed the products that were being showcased by Singh during the live session. One could tap on any product to add it to their bag and make the purchase.

From what we understand, this is not the first time Nykaa has tried a 'watch and buy' format on its platform but it is the first time the firm is using it during its flagship sale event. We have reached out to Nykaa for a comment and will update once we hear back.

Live commerce has seen significant success in China through players such as Alibaba’s Taobao Live, Bytedance’s Douyin and Kuaishou. Taobao Live generated a gross merchandise value (GMV) of about $61.7 billion in 2020, Alibaba said in April this year.

Google’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are also experimenting with this format by conducting various live shopping events on their respective platforms in the United States.

YouTube has also acquired video commerce platform Simsim in India, to replicate the Douyin-Taobao model in India, experts say.

In October, Glance-owned short video sharing platform Roposo also launched their first label in the live commerce segment by joining hands with Balaji Telefilms joint MD Ekta Kapoor to launch her home decor, furnishing and wellness brand called Ek.

Meanwhile, ShareChat-owned short video app Moj had announced a partnership with Flipkart on October 28 that lets Moj users to discover and shop directly from Flipkart through an in-app integration.

Live commerce is estimated to drive gross merchandise value (GMV) of $4-$5 billion by 2025, according to a report by market research firm RedSeer Consulting.