Founded in 2018, TalkShopLive built its reputation on live celebrity-led shopping sessions featuring the likes of Drew Barrymore and Oprah Winfrey on TalkShopLive’s platform. TalkShopLive’s latest product shows how the video commerce company is looking to expand its reach beyond QVC-style live shows by taking a page out of TikTok’s playbook, which has soared in popularity in the U.S. thanks to short, shoppable videos since it launched its e-commerce business Shop more than a year ago. But now, TikTok is staring down a nationwide ban in the U.S. 

In an exclusive interview with Modern Retail, Bryan Moore, co-founder and CEO of TalkShopLive, said TikTok’s uncertain future has created an enormous business opportunity for video-focused platforms. 

“I really believe that anybody who’s creating an overall video commerce content strategy doesn’t want to be dependent on a single platform,” Moore said. 

The thrust of TalkShopLive’s pitch to retailers, platforms and creators stems from its embeddable video player, which allows content to be shared across multiple channels and platforms. A user can watch and buy products from a live feed on any site, whether it’s a retailer’s website or a celebrity’s social media, with no need to download a separate app. 

“One of the major benefits of TalkShopLive is that while we’ve created a technology that cuts the friction and path to purchase for the customer, we’ve also really created a technology that cuts the friction and path to use for a brand or retailer,” Moore said. 

Over the past few years, the company has grown by striking video commerce partnerships with major retailers. For example, Amazon partnered with TalkShopLive in November to produce a series of shows through Amazon Live, the retailer’s livestreaming service. In 2023, TalkShopLive launched shoppable simulcasts on Facebook and Instagram Live. Exact figures were not shared, but Moore said shoppable simulcasts contributed a 25% increase in platform-wide sales in 2024. Meta was the natural starting point for Shoppettes because of the success brands and creators have seen on the platform through simulcasts, Moore said. 

In general, TalkShopLive’s platform has been growing at a rapid clip. In 2024, TalkShopLive doubled its audience, with “Add to Cart” actions increasing by over 120%, according to the company. TalkShop Live also achieved profitability for the first time in 2024, Moore told Modern Retail. TalkShopLive takes a commission on items sold.

The decision to launch Shoppettes, Moore said, was data-driven. TalkShopLive noticed that brands and creators were leveraging the platform’s data and analytics to determine engagement and conversion rates and then cutting down those parts into short-form clips to post on their channels. “We thought, ‘Well, these should also be made shoppable,’” Moore said. 

TalkShopLive quietly beta-tested the new product at the end of 2024. For example, a video of Martha Stewart promoting her new cookbook posted on TalkShopLive’s Instagram page in November shows Shoppettes in action. 

Notably, the shoppable Reels functionality only works for seven days after the video is posted, at which point the shopping capability expires. Moore said this was based on a data-driven approach that assessed when Reels receive the most visibility and engagement. “Based on this analysis, we determined that focusing on the initial days post-publication aligns best with how social platforms prioritize content,” Moore said. 

To Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy at digital consultancy firm CI&T, the short-form nature of Shoppettes “really takes the live out of TalkShopLive,” she said. It’s a sign that TalkShopLive is looking to mirror TikTok, which has doubled down on livestreams in recent months but has historically been known for short, pre-recorded videos. “They’ve clearly done a lot of research that shorter is better.”

TalkShopLive’s growth comes as TikTok faces heightened scrutiny in the U.S. In April, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law that requires TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell its stake in the popular social media app by Jan. 19 to an American buyer or face a national ban. TikTok has pursued legal action to prevent the law from going into effect. In December, a federal appeals court issued a ruling, ultimately upholding the divest-or-ban law. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the divest-or-ban law targeting TikTok on Jan. 10.

If TikTok is shut down, Reels would be the most obvious replacement for U.S. users. As such, TalkShopLive’s repeated collaboration with Meta is a clear strategic maneuver, according to Minkow. But even if TikTok manages to circumvent a shutdown in the U.S., other video-focused platforms like TalkShopLive still stand to benefit from the heightened scrutiny around TikTok, she said. 

“Whether TikTok goes away or not, all the attention that’s being shed on it is forcing everyone from brands and consumers alike to develop a plan B,” Minkow said. “And that’s where TalkShopLive is realizing there’s more of an opening for them.” 

Still, the experience isn’t totally frictionless yet. Currently, the product isn’t self-serve, and TalkShopLive has to post the videos. The in-platform shopping experience, which requires users to comment on a video post if they want to shop, has more steps involved compared to TikTokShop, which offers a more integrated buying process. Moore said the shopping experience will be more streamlined in the future. In the meantime, Moore is optimistic. 

“What we’re creating is really the full solution for brand talent and retailers, as well as the ability to work with them to drive their content and to reach the maximum number of customers,” he said.