Shop live, from your couch

A model shows off clothes on Swirl’s live shopping app

It was when Chitresh Parihar, CEO and co-founder of Baaz, was getting married last year that he got a brainwave. "My bride-to-be was looking for a lehenga, and we were in Bengaluru, and she wanted to shop from a place in Delhi. The shop owners asked her to get on a video call with them. They walked her through their lehengas, and then they sent her a payment link on WhatsApp and she paid them. It was then that I thought, why not combine all those avenues together on one platform?" And that's when the idea for Baaz was formed. "The difference is that you get the link on the same screen, and pay right then even as the vendor is still with you on the call."

Baaz, the ultimate live video commerce tool, is a reflection of how live shopping, or video shopping, is looking to become the future of retail. The second lockdown, which forced us back into our homes, has made sure that die-hard shoppers, and even the reluctant ones, look at the online retail experience as the one to adopt. According to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in 2021, global ecommerce sales rose to almost $4.8 trillion and climbing. It said that 5G will trigger an explosion in live shopping and video commerce. This trend is projected to become a 961 billion yuan ($135 billion) industry this year in China, according to Chinese data provider iResearch. In India, it's just quite starting out. Along with market places like Simsim, which was acquired by YouTube, smaller players like Baaz are also flooding the sector. YouTube also launched a YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop, which features creators recommending products. In a blog post, Wendy Yang, Product Designer, YouTube Shopping, said, "We created YouTube.com/Shopping as a temporary destination that allows you to revisit livestreams, discover new ones, and browse products shown in the videos in categories such as makeup, skincare, haircare, and electronics. Heading into 2022, YouTube will continue building and investing in shopping, including features for video on demand and personalised shopping." RedSeer, a Bengaluru-based consultancy, says the ecommerce industry will grow to $140 billion by 2025, and social commerce players will contribute at least five per cent.

Social media creator Mridul Tripathi shops through Proxgy, which helps her navigate Sarojini Nagar market without actually being there

At Baaz, Parihar and his co-founder Ruben Gregory Savio, say that what works is the trust factor, as you see the vendor in front of you as you pay, and the fact that the whole exercise is done on one app. They now have 2,900 merchants on the platform, whom they charge R999 to R2,999 as subscription fees. "If the gross marketing margin, that is, the profit the merchants made, in January when we launched was R1 lakh, in November it had risen to R6.3 crore," says Parihar. They are now partnering with a company that will expand their merchant base to one million. "There are a few reasons this works. One, because Internet speeds are now better. Two, people are already accustomed to the video format. And third, because the smaller merchants don't want the trouble of creating a website, and deal with issues like returns. In fact, in India, returns average 40-50 per cent, but on Baaz, the returns have been zero. That's because the sale only happens as the customer is completely happy," says Parihar, who also adds that the biggest selling products are bridal wear, jewellery and home decor. One of his merchants, homeopathy doctor Dr Anjali Tayade, 53, who also owns a bag brand called Arthita, can vouch for Baaz's success. "I tried a few online exhibitions in the lockdown and they were maha flops, as they were flat pictures," explains Tayade, who is a one-stop-shop of cloth organisers, either for your phones, remotes, medicines, or anything it may be. "Then I tried Baaz, and since it was a live video, I could actually show a live demo of the organisers. I used to only do good business during Ganpati and Diwali. Now, it's all through the year and my profits have grown 70 per cent."

Another player is the Kolkata-based SaahiHain. Founded by ex-IBMer Arijit Mukherjee, SaahiHain's main objective is to give the MSME a chance. "The vendors don't want to deal with a complicated dashboard and fancy photographs, so this live shopping format works for them. Our app works best in Tier-2 cities, where the target is the working millennial woman." The trend seems to be moving fast across the country. Kaizad Hansotia, who is the founder and CEO of Swirl, a live video commerce SaaS (Software as a service), which creates customised softwares for companies to enable their live shopping feature, explains the magnitude. "Video has already become the new normal, so this was bound to happen. Retail was an early mover, but now we are seeing sectors like real estate and automobiles also entering the market," says Hansotia, adding that they created a one-on-one software for Pantaloons, and a many-to-one for ITC. "Everyone is seeing major profits. Our users have seen a 400 per cent conversion rate, and 7x more customer engagement."

Arijit Mukherjee, Kaizad Hansotia, Dr Anjali Tayade and Chitresh Parihar

There are even more DIY apps like Proxgy, a Visual Commerce platform, which boasts of taking you to the place you really want to be, without leaving your home. Content creator, Mridul Tripathi, 24, recently explained how Proxgy works in an Instagram reel to her almost 40,000 followers. We see a man with a GoPro on his head roaming around Delhi's famed Sarojini Nagar market, and buying clothes for the one watching the video. "Once you choose what you want, you can Google Pay the vendor. Personally, I would like to go shopping in a physical shop, and see the clothes, but I think in today's scenario, this works best. Also, everyone living outside of Delhi, can also access Sarojini Nagar."

It seems like live shopping is here to stay. If it feels a lot like the teleshopping of the early '90s, it's much better. Those demos were one-sided, and this is live, allowing sellers and shoppers to interact with one another in real time. Ambi Parameswaran, veteran adman, and founder of Brand-Building.com, a brand advisory, says, "Sometimes, it's difficult to predict the future of some of these things, especially as the success of these depend on the fact that consumers don't want to go out." He believes teleshopping had its day, as people didn't want to deal with the hassle that comes with going to shop and making a decision. "Live shopping will have to offer unique discounts and initiatives. Otherwise, how long will you want to forgo feeling the silk saree before you buy it. I am just wondering how long this will sustain in the long run."