Walmart has been developing its ad platform to compete with Amazon, which also has invested in live shopping programs on its website. Amazon also has a creator program that allows its roster of talent to stream sales events, which are most prominent during holidays and Prime Day.
Social media companies, especially TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snap, Pinterest and Twitter, have been trying to capture more commerce. But social commerce has been progressing slowly and there have been setbacks with how far the platforms can go to accommodate online shopping. For instance, TikTok’s livestream shopping program has reportedly been mothballed after having trouble catching on in the UK Facebook is pulling the plug on live shopping next month.
The platforms still consider themselves important players in product discovery, and Walmart’s new partnership with TikTok and Snap shows that they are trying to prove that ads viewed on their apps do lead to