Forever 21 hires social influencers for livestream events at scale

A fast fashion retailer is speeding up the process of locating and signing social media influencers and content creators to host and create livestream shopping sessions.

Forever 21 is partnering with Buywith, a livestream shopping marketplace that matches fashion and beauty retailers with social media influencers and content creators to host and create livestream shopping sessions. Buywith offers a self-serve platform that enables Forever 21 to have dozens or hundreds of live sessions monthly, utilizing livestream shopping hosts and influencers.

Social media influencers, bloggers and content creators from the U.S. can sign up and host live shopping sessions with their followers on Forever 21. The platform is currently “invite-only,” with influencers having to be approved before going live and joining the platform.

Forever 21 is not alone among U.S. retailers in exploring livestream shopping, which has been a mainstream digital commerce channel in Asia for several years. Major retailers including Nordstrom, Walmart, Amazon, and J.C. Penney have also all begun piloting livestream shopping events in the past six months.

The Buywith user experience is designed to be similar to a live shopping haul on the Forever 21 e-commerce site. No mobile app is required for shoppers. During the session, customers can click the “want” button and add desired items to their cart.