Businesses have made it that much easier to make a purchase. All you really need is a cell phone.
But now a new kind of shopping is blowing up in the U.S. — it's called live shopping, where people are selling products live on social media, and people are making money doing it.
What started in China is now gaining traction in the U.S. as more and more people are getting into live shopping, often described as a modern version of QVC.
Using social media platforms like TikTok, Whatnot, or eBay Live, sellers can have a live conversation with shoppers as they're selling their items. There's a link that pops up, making it that much easier to buy something.
Jaime Hannigan has been doing this for years now, and it's something she fell into during the pandemic.
"In 2020, when COVID hit, we took our whole store at the time a couple locations in our home and started doing live shopping on Facebook. No affiliate model just selling our own products online. It was a huge hit," Hannigan said.
Hannigan says it wasn't until she got connected with the TikTok Shop under the handle Gadget Girls when she saw how quickly people can turn a side hustle into a full-time job.
"Honestly it really fluctuates very wildly because you can do it on such a small scale or a large scale depending on how often you want to do it right. A lot of us we're doing it from our homes, so you can push that live button whenever you want to. You can make $20 a day you can make $20,000 a day," Hannigan said.
Every platform has its own requirements to participate, but Hannigan says the actual expenses to do a live on social media is low cost.
"There's nothing you have to pay for because it's a handful of equipment a ring light, a microphone, your phone you already have your internet," Hannigan said.
And businesses are cashing in on their end. Data from eMarketer — a market research company — shows U.S. live ecommerce sales have grown nearly 50% in 2025 to $14.64 billion.
Farhana Nusrat — an assistant professor of marketing at USD — says this platform is doing well because of the transparency.
"It's very convenient because they can get all the information they want from one live about the product, ask questions, and get the answer instantly. And also the purchasing process it's simple. You can purchase a product during the live," Nusrat said.
"That builds that trust in the brand that this product must be good since so many people are also liking it and buying it while I'm watching the live, so building that trust with the brand through the platform while having an entertainment based shopping experience," Nusrat said.
And as this form of shopping continues to grow and become more accessible to shoppers, Nusrat says it's still important to do your homework and research products before you click purchase. And make sure you're using a secure link when making a payment.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
