E-commerce Platform Shopstar, Launches Live Shopping App, Flick Live
Shopstar, a South African e-commerce startup, has introduced a live shopping application in Africa. Brands and retailers may sell their goods, engage with viewers, and attract new consumers on the dynamic social commerce network, Flick Live.
According to the startup, “Both during and after the pandemic, we have seen eCommerce prove to be a crucial space for South African businesses. Those with an existing eCommerce solution thrived, and those who did not have one quickly got an offering up and running.
“With ecommerce remaining a significant area of focus for many businesses, now local startup Shopstar has debuted an interesting app in the form of Flick Live.”
Africa has experienced a rapid increase in internet usage due to the advantages that online retailers provide. Because of this, consumers and manufacturers are now more aware of the advantages of e-commerce. The comfort that online retailers offer is their main advantage.
The rate of online shopping increased along with the desire for gadgets like smartphones. Numerous online shops also appeared in South Africa and many more are being created. According to Statista’s eCommerce research, there are over 30 million eCommerce users in South Africa. The Shopstar team’s knowledge and insights from its five years of direct involvement in the South African e-commerce business went into creating the Flick Live concept; giving it the unique live concept.
This live shopping platform functions by easily connecting with any existing e-commerce store, including those that are currently powered by Shopstar or by other third parties, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and others. The source platform is used to create new orders and instantly sync all inventories. Then, sellers hold a live show on Flick Live where they promote their goods through incredibly engaging and personalized buying video experiences.
“Live shopping has been a global phenomenon in Asia, Brazil, India and the Americas, and with conversion results upwards of 40% on sales, it was hard to ignore that the African continent was lagging behind the rest of the world. And yet, having the youngest population and the highest smartphone penetration worldwide (just under 90% of all traffic across the Shopstar customer base is mobile), we knew that this was technology that needed to be developed for the African market,” explains Elizora Olivier, Shopstar COO.
Shopstar’s investor and chairman, Mike Joubert noted that Flick Live was the next step in assisting South African brands, company owners, and innovators in developing and expanding their enterprises. By developing its entrepreneurs, the startup believes it can make a significant contribution to the South African economy.
CEO, Chris Edington acknowledged that the new platform made sense as it relates to what consumers wanted. He added that the platform will enable better interaction between buyers and sellers.
“We always work very closely with our customers, who are creative entrepreneurs starting and building their own enterprises. The feedback they gave us was that they were always looking for new ways to connect with their customers. Live shopping provides an exciting new way to do social commerce.
“Our research showed that the future of shopping is social – 63% of people aged 18-34 watch live stream content regularly. We needed to be able to meet them where they are, instead of waiting for them to come to us. It’s an opportunity for seamless interaction with minimum effort, but maximum impact,” Edington concluded.