Livestreaming and Gig-Delivery: E-commerce Moves to the Next Phase

- - LS-E-Commerce for a concise digital Shopping-Experience
- - Reliability, cost and speed are key drivers for the last mile
- - R2 robot from Nuro approved for commercial delivery
Growth in the e-commerce sector has declined from plus 20% in recent years to an estimated growth of 5-8% in the next few years. However, the structural growth story is still intact. But competition will intensify as e-commerce companies fight for limited resources. In this economic climate, two "fundamental" trends will become more important: innovative technologies to attract and retain customers, and more efficient delivery of goods.
In recent years, a new way of shopping online has emerged due to the introduction of high-speed Internet and powerful mobile devices. LS-E-Commerce, which stands for Live and Streaming, - is increasingly being used as a factor to analyze online shopping and the future of digital advertising. LS-E-Commerce was developed in China by Taobao (Alibaba) in 2016 and has expanded beyond the country to the rest of the world in recent years. LS e-commerce content includes streams of merchants and marketers engaging with users to promote various products in real time. Through livestreaming, e-commerce companies are able to introduce a product in detail allowing potential buyers to familiarize themselves with the products. In addition, sellers can answer consumer inquiries live. Companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta are currently investing a lot of time and resources in developing LS e-commerce. These are the first steps on the road to a fully digital shopping experience for customers. In addition to LS e-commerce, we are seeing the use of virtual reality headsets and platforms such as Roblox and Meta.
"Gig" delivery services compete with UPS and FedEx
The second "fundamental" trend in e-commerce concerns the ecosystem of goods delivery to customers. The "last mile" is the shipping of goods from the warehouse to the customer's destination. The standard practice is a cost of USD 8-10 per delivery. This is a bottleneck for the e-commerce industry and is often referred to as the Holy Grail. "Gig" delivery services compete with UPS and FedEx