Black Friday All Year Round: TikTok Trend Drastically Changing a Large Industry

• Live shopping is a growing phenomenon, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also gaining a stronger presence in the US and Europe.
• Globally, this sales segment reached $128.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to as much as $2,469 billion by 2033.
• The growing popularity of impulsive, emotion-driven shopping will require even greater flexibility from companies. Paradoxically, however, unlike traditional e-commerce, live shopping gives logistics companies the advantage of predictability.

Live shopping is drastically changing the online sales model, introducing rapid increases in orders. For logistics companies , this means challenges familiar from the increasingly popular Black Friday , the first Friday after American Thanksgiving, which has become a day of promotions and, consequently, increased shopping almost everywhere in the world.

Live shopping is a form of online commerce in which sellers, brands or influencers present products in real time during video broadcasts and sell them on the fly, which translates into millions of dollars in sales for brands during short streams .

"Such online broadcasts, during which you can purchase the featured products, are a kind of 'mini Black Friday,' meaning sales increase dramatically in a short period. This requires appropriate organization of warehouse operations, such as locating the most popular products in different parts of the facility to prevent bottlenecks during order picking," says Oskar Błaszkowski, Distribution Manager at DSV – Global Transport and Logistics , who is responsible for implementing the international corporation's current distribution services development strategy, including for the e-commerce industry.

Black Friday all year round. Full integration needed.

Live shopping is a growing global phenomenon, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region . It is also gaining a stronger presence in the US and Europe. Globally, this sales segment reached $128.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to a staggering $2.469 billion by 2033. This data is cited in a report by Grand View Research on the phenomenon.

Meanwhile, McKinsey research shows that the average consumer buying this way is 33-36 years old, with the largest group being those aged 25-34. In China, women predominate (58%), while in the US and Europe, men predominate (59% and 53%). However, what's more telling is the effectiveness of this type of streaming. McKinsey data shows that in China, nearly 100% of viewers make a purchase during a given broadcast . In the US, the figures are 40-54% during the broadcast, and in Europe, a modest 28-46%.

And what do they buy? Mainly clothing, health & wellness products, but also electronics.

According to logistics managers, unlike traditional e-commerce, live shopping gives their companies the advantage of predictability. Transmissions are planned in advance, so warehouses can prepare appropriate inventory levels and optimize product distribution, thus avoiding the chaos known from, say, Black Friday.

- Informing those responsible for logistics in advance allows for effective warehouse preparation - notes the DSV specialist.

However, the growing popularity of impulsive, emotion-based shopping will require even greater flexibility from companies – both in terms of IT systems and warehouse organization.

It will be necessary to integrate sales platforms with WMS systems, as well as develop solutions such as picking automation (e.g., AutoStore, pick-to-light, pick-to-voice), which shorten order preparation times. This could lead to more frequent same-day and next-day deliveries and a reduction in inventory of low-turnover products.

- The regularity of sales spikes associated with the live shopping trend allows us to avoid the problem of seasonal employment – warehouses can operate at a more stable rhythm - emphasizes Oskar Błaszkowski.

A novelty from China, a standard in Europe?

In the long term, if live sales dominate the e-commerce segment, the industry expects further changes: the creation of special live commerce zones in warehouses, redesigning facility layouts, and the growing importance of quick information about inventory levels.

It is worth closely monitoring the Chinese market, where the trend is already reaching the level of broadcasts conducted by avatars supported by artificial intelligence.

"Less than a month ago, one of the local influencers, Luo Yonghao, hosted an online sales broadcast. It wasn't him, but his AI-created avatar . Everything looked incredibly natural; the event was viewed 13 million times and generated $7 million in sales. If we assume that online sales broadcasts will soon be similar in Europe, we can expect the market to strive to integrate WMS systems directly with avatars to keep them up to date on product inventory and suggest whether it's worth discussing a given product or moving on to the next one," says Distribution Manager at DSV – Global Transport and Logistics.

So it may be that what looks like a novelty from China today may soon become standard in Europe as well.