Is Live Shopping the Future? Transferring and Adapting Chinese Live Shopping to the Swedish Market

Sammanfattning: During recent years, live shopping has thrived in China. The variation of e- commerce implies promoting products in real-time during a live stream, allowing viewers to purchase the items while interacting with the promoter as well as other viewers. As of today, the phenomenon of live shopping has gotten foothold on the Swedish market. Based on the theories of liability of foreignness and social construction of markets, this qualitative study aims to research the implementation of this phenomenon on the Swedish market, and research possible adaptions that must be made for live shopping to become successful in Sweden. To answer the research question, the landscape of Swedish e-commerce has been mapped. The study also researches how live shopping is performed in China and the contributing factors to the growth of live shopping in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts on China, experts on e-commerce in Sweden, and individuals with experience from live shopping in Sweden. The interviews resulted in five recurring themes including technology, infrastructure, sociology, political landscape and demography that formed a foundation for a narrative analysis. The findings suggest a hybridization of the two markets for the concept to be successful in Sweden. The most important finding suggests a need of adaptation towards a more seamless digital experience in the Swedish market, comparable to the Chinese experience.