Live Shopping in the U.S. is Booming

Lauren Beitelspacher, associate professor of marketing at Babson College, said it was vital to the success of live shopping and that influencers had earned the trust and admiration of their fans, which made them the perfect sales force. "This kind of live shopping with influencer is basically like shopping with friends or people you really aspire to be with, and I think this trend is only going to grow," she said.

Communication between influencer and the audience is a major part of live shopping. Just like Stevenney’s live stream, viewers can learn more by asking questions. Facebook highlights the interactive aspect of live shopping in its best practice guidelines. Responding to each comment, this guide says, helps "turn them into new clients."

However, not every creator achieved great success. Google hired Hélène Heath to create beauty content for the release of Shoploop, but she didn't make any money by including affiliate links in her nine videos. Nor has she produced more videos since the original deal closed.

Ms. Stefani said that thanks to her success with Amazon's Live Shopping service, she can focus on live streaming, but she still has to buy everything herself and hopes to get cash back from sales. Heath still sells products on her Instagram through traditional brand posts and affiliate links. "There's definitely a balance to be struck between sounding like a friend who really likes the product and trying to get your audience to buy it so you can make a little bit of money out of it," she said.

When all the influencers come online, the impact of product marketing may not stop.