Live auctions, both online and offline, have undergone significant transformations over the past few decades. They have adapted to technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and global market dynamics. Initially fueled by COVID and the explosive growth of brand affinity tied to streaming content creators, the volume of commerce transactions done in live auctions has grown significantly over the past five years.
The History and Evolution of Live Auctions
Traditionally, live auctions have been a staple in markets dealing with antiques, art, real estate, and collectibles. These events were primarily held in physical locations where bidders could inspect items in person and experience the thrill of competitive bidding.
The advent of the internet revolutionized the auction industry. Online auction platforms like eBay, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s have expanded the reach of auctions, allowing participants from all over the world to bid on items without being physically present. This shift has not only increased the accessibility of auctions but also diversified the types of items being auctioned.
From QVC to Zheng Xiangxiang: The Rise of Live Shopping
Live commerce and specifically live auctions have exploded into a $50B+ SAM market by 2024. These events are similar to the QVC or Home Shopping channels on terrestrial cable TV. The original and historical construct of these shows was a live broadcast where the studio is a virtual showroom. Trusted hosts and personalities showcase items for purchase, and orders were done over the phone. Users were able to call in and interact with the hosts, who provided answers to questions that a user might ask an associate at an actual store. The ability for customers to see the item and interact with it through a host led to increased sales and purchase conversions.
Fast forward to 2024. The concept of live auctions is exactly the same, except broadcast network hosts have become influencers and streamers. Cable TV channels have become streaming platforms. Purchasing over the phone has become immediate online commerce, and standard shopping purchase time of hours, have become live, quick auctions with purchase time of seconds.
China Takes It to a Whole New Level
During COVID, commerce was done exclusively online, and the Chinese consumer turned to live streaming hosts to replicate what store associates, who were not available, would provide: the ability to ask questions about the items, get recommendations, see them being used, and most importantly, have them endorsed. This was the start of the live streaming commerce experience, which represents and rewards the concept selling of urgency versus the actual items themselves.
Live Shopping Leads to Live Auctions
In the US, the combination of the rise of collectables and fandom of top influencers has spawned several live auction services. Influencers have discovered that there is a huge market for exclusive content and they have the following and fans to make live auction selling a very lucrative proposition. The most recognized brands in the US doing live auctions are companies and platforms who started catering to trading card collectors.
- Drip: Drip provides a seamless live auction experience with real-time bidding, integrated payment processing, and interactive features that enhance engagement for sellers and buyers in niche markets.
- Fanatics Live: Fanatics’ live auction capabilities allow sports enthusiasts to bid on exclusive memorabilia and collectibles, offering a dynamic and interactive platform with secure transactions and live streaming features.
- Whatnot: Whatnot excels in live auctions by combining real-time bidding with community-driven interactions, supporting a wide range of collectibles and fostering a vibrant marketplace for enthusiasts.
The Future of Live Auctions
There exists a real addressable market gap and opportunity for services that can improve audience participation in live auctions and reduce operational costs across the entire value chain of a live auction.
The future of live auctions lies in the integration of existing platforms overlaying influencer-driven sales of custom and collectible items. Although the auction experiences of Drip or Whatnot are solid, there exists a real barrier for sellers and hosts to surface their live auctions to a wider audience, and an additional cost required to duplicate the already existing product list and inventory into those platforms.
Super Streaming has created a live auction platform that allows influencers to run live auctions on YouTube, Twitch or Kick and integrate into their existing ecommerce services such as Shopify.
Contact Us if you want to talk to someone on the Superstreaming Sales team about #SuperCharging your content.