By William White, Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart U.S.
Over the last year, we have been leading the way in social commerce by creating first-to-market experiences for our customers, doubling-down on shoppable content and accelerating our efforts around shoppable livestreams.
Since our very first shoppable livestream last December, where we worked with TikTok for a Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular, we’ve tested 15 shoppable livestream events across five platforms, launched Walmart.com/live, worked with more than 20 creators and hosts and were the first retailer to pilot shoppable livestream events on major social platforms, including TikTok, YouTube and now Twitter.
With several events now under our belts, it’s encouraging to see more and more customers tuning in to shop with us. We’ve learned a lot along this journey and are applying feedback to make each of these experiences even more fun and engaging for our customers.
Looking to our next act, we are kicking off Cyber Week with an incredible shoppable livestream with singer, songwriter, dancer and social media superstar Jason Derulo for the first shoppable livestream on Twitter.FY22 Holiday Annual Event Cyber Monday TikTokPlay Video
This will be the first time a brand in the U.S. has leveraged this capability on Twitter and I’m excited to bring customers incredible deals on a platform they already love during the most joyful shopping season of the year. Twitter is a platform where we consistently see high return across top- and middle-of-funnel content, so it’s a natural next step for us to explore this new functionality.
Starting at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 28, customers can watch and shop from Walmart.com/live, Twitter.com/Walmart, YouTube.com/Walmart, Facebook.com/Walmart, and watch from Instagram.com/Walmart and Tiktok.com/@Walmart. Jason will host a 30-minute variety show highlighting electronics, home goods, apparel, seasonal décor, surprise special guests and much more.
And we aren’t stopping there. This holiday season, we have 30+ shoppable livestream events, spanning across eight social and media platforms including BuyWith, BuzzFeed, Facebook, IGN, TalkShopLive, Tasty, Twitter and YouTube.
Discovery and inspiration can happen anywhere, and we want to make sure we are meeting our customers where they are. The success of these livestream events and growth of our business are telling us that we’re headed down the right path. We will continue to curate special experiences for our customers who live in dynamic, immersive environments and allow customers to shop seamlessly while also being entertained.
We believe the future of retail lies in social commerce, which is why we’re focusing on innovating in the space as we continue to offer our customers ways to live better – whether online, or in store, the future of holiday shopping remains bright at Walmart.