Live Streaming Transforms Small Retailers Into Digital Competitors
A new study shows small retailers using live-streaming commerce are reversing declining sales and building loyal customer bases through real-time interaction. The findings reveal how this low-cost digital strategy lets smaller businesses compete with larger retailers by turning viewers into impulse buyers and building engaged online communities.
Originaltitel: Revolutionizing Retail: The Impact of Live Streaming Commerce on Business Growth and Consumer Engagement
<p>Live streaming commerce has emerged as a rapidly growing form of digital retail, yet scholarly understanding of how it creates value for small businesses and consumers remains limited. This chapter examines how live streaming commerce can support retail transformation by enabling real-time interaction, authenticity, and closer engagement between firms and customers. Drawing on a qualitative longitudinal case study, the chapter explores how a small retail business adopted live streaming as a strategic response to severe market challenges and declining physical store traffic. The findings illustrate how interactive live sessions foster customer engagement, strengthen trust, and stimulate impulse purchasing behaviour through direct communication and social interaction among viewers. At the same time, the study highlights how live streaming can function as a low-cost digital strategy that allows smaller firms to expand their reach, build online communities, and develop new revenue streams. The analysis contributes to the literature on digital platforms and social commerce by demonstrating how value co-creation emerges through authentic interaction between businesses and consumers in live environments. The chapter also provides practical insights into how small retailers can leverage live streaming commerce not merely as a marketing tool but as a central element of digital transformation, supporting resilience, adaptation, and growth in an increasingly digital marketplace.</p>