This report explores the latest developments in the social media landscape, including the Facebook ad boycott and new monetization opportunities from the platforms, as well as our latest forecast for social network ad revenues.

Live streaming. TikTok has started putting more muscle into its live stream capabilities; in late March, it introduced #HappyAtHome: LIVE!, a nightly (Monday to Friday) series available only on the app. In its first week, the programming featured creators, actors, musicians and others. More recently, the content was prom-inspired.

Although the return of more reliable and nearly-full-length sports seasons will help TV, viewers are showing increasing willingness to access sports via livestreaming or to forego them entirely. TV’s losses are expected to worsen going forward.

Meanwhile, before Pinterest can get users to shop via its new livestreaming or visual search tools, it needs to get them to actually use those new features in the first place. Why it matters: Social commerce is still an emerging trend in US shopping behavior, making up just 4.0% of all US retail ecommerce sales, and conversion remains elusive.

Article: Livestreaming finds a home among influencers.

And Clubhouse isn’t only in danger of losing users and creators to audio livestreaming apps—it’s also competing against Twitch and Instagram, for example, which offer video livestreaming and multiple forms of creator monetization. It’ll need to roll out more options for creators soon if it wants to catch up.

“Many of the country's most popular ecommerce platforms are heavily integrated with the most popular social networks, boasting innovative services like Mini Programs and live streaming commerce. These and other services frequently offer the best deals on products, and they make social buying extremely engaging and convenient.”.

Livestream purchases. One step up from in-app purchases has emerged from China in the form of real-time purchases from livestreamed video; microblogging and livestreaming apps are highly popular in the country.

Various livestreaming shopping features rolled out by YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram in 2020. TikTok isn’t as far along on features in the US, but it has huge potential. “[Livestreaming] is a space that is very vibrant and alive,” said Katie Puris, managing director and global head of business marketing at TikTok.

The near-term impact from 5G on the retail industry will be oriented around bandwidth-intensive applications such as livestreaming, video surveillance, and computer vision. In-store, this will mean increasing experimentation with AR and VR applications, as well as performance and security enhancements for mobile applications, including contactless payment services.

With in-person interactions ground to a halt, consumers in countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic are turning to live video to stay connected.

In practice, these changes might reduce traditional offerings like airport benefits and companion passes, and instead increase access to cost-effective services like classes or livestreams. These “transitional” perks could encourage spend, enticing redemption from a lucrative base of affluent cardholders seeking experiences now—and help issuers avoid rewards expense fallout later. Attainable bonuses.

The platform enables face AR, stickers, immersive commerce, and even livestreaming filters for influencers. Founded: 2014. Total funding: $2 million. Stage: Seed. Notable investor: Y Combinator. Headquarters: Palo Alto, California; Seoul, South Korea. Why it’s worth watching: Seerslab was also part of the T-Mobile Accelerator program in 2020. 5 to Watch: Healthcare. AliveCor.

It’s different from the style that you might have from a Tmall livestream, which reaches a wider audience. It all comes down to convenience. Take something as simple as booking an appointment online. When booking an appointment with Burberry, you can select a themed fitting room that is tailored to your taste.

US users can also view livestreams of important events like debates and localized news by state.

China’s retail sector has been on a steady path to recovery over the past few months. According to June data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in China, retail sales experienced a year-over-year drop of 1.8%, reaching $485.30 billion (RMB3.353 trillion). That was an increase of 1 percentage point over the prior month.

Parent Inke, a video livestreaming company, cited the app being incomplete as the reason for its removal. Feichuan: Currently under development, this Clubhouse-inspired invite-only app from leading short-video company Kuaishou is in its beta version.