Grace Ashiru
Shopstar, a South African-founded e-commerce business, has released Africa’s first live shopping app. Flick Live is a dynamic social commerce platform powered by Shopstar that allows brands and retailers to sell their items, communicate with viewers, and win new customers in real-time live streams. It was created in a record-breaking five months.
This live shopping platform works by integrating smoothly with any existing e-commerce store, such as those already run on Shopstar or by third parties like Shopify, WooCommerce, and others. All of the inventory is automatically synced, and any new orders are made on the source platform. The sellers then host a live show on Flick Live to sell their products in a way that is very personal and interesting.
The idea for Flick Live came from the five years of experience and knowledge that the Shopstar team has had in the South African eCommerce market.
“Micro and small eCommerce businesses in South Africa and around the world are having difficulty generating sales and are closing because they have little or no the experience and resources to turn an online store into a profitable online business,” says Edington.
Live shopping has become popular all over the world, especially in Brazil, Asia, Brazil, India, and the Americas. With sales conversion rates of up to 40%, it was hard to ignore the fact that Africa is behind the rest of the world.
And yet, Africa has the youngest population and the highest smartphone penetration in the world (just under 90% of all Shopstar traffic comes from mobile devices). “We knew this was technology that needed to be made for the African market,” says Shopstar COO Elizora Olivier.
Shopstar’s research also showed that customers all over the world want stores to be more digitally innovative and use more ways to sell. About 60% of shoppers said that live stream shopping made their experience better, and brands said that conversion rates for live commerce were 10 times higher than for regular eCommerce.
The startup was created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Flick Live is the next step in assisting South African creatives, entrepreneurs, and brands in developing and expanding their enterprises.
Shopstar is a business that was made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Flick Live is the next step to help creators, entrepreneurs, and brands in South Africa build and grow their businesses.
By building up our entrepreneurs, we think we can make a big difference in the South African economy. In the end, the small businesses we help grow along with us,” says Mike Joubert, an investor in Shopstar and its Chairperson.
Flick Live has a simple pricing system that is based on success. This means that sellers only pay a commission when they make a sale. Click here if you want to learn more or if you work for a brand and want to get on the waiting list.
