The Future Of Online Retail Looks A Lot Like QVC

The models strode the catwalk as models do, scampering down the runway in the season’s essentials — vintage T-shirts, yellow rain boots, a camo-print backpack — before a virtual audience. That the models were furry and four-legged was the draw for the roughly 1 million viewers who tuned in for Petco’s 22-minute live stream on Facebook in spring. Sales were double what the company had forecast. “It turned out that a pet fashion show was exactly what our consumers wanted from us,” said Jay Altschuler, vice president of media transformation for the pet chain. “We went in with very modest expectations and didn’t really believe it was going to be a huge driver — but it was.” Live-streamed shopping events — part entertainment, part ad blitz — have become the latest frontier in online shopping. Retailers and brands as varied as Walmart, Amazon, Gucci, and L’Oréal are experimenting with new streaming formats to sell a growing array of beauty products, clothing, electronics, and home furnishings. Read more at The Washington Post.