Key Takeaways:

• Live commerce is now a scalable channel.
• Beauty thrives on live selling’s trust, performance, and personality.
• Frequency, community, and experience drive outsized growth and loyalty.

Livestream shopping has become a mainstream commerce engine that is rapidly redefining how brands sell and consumers buy. According to Whatnot’s latest State of Live Selling Report, the live-selling commerce market across North America and Europe is now an estimated $22 billion channel. In 2025, Whatnot captured nearly 60% of the market share and generated over $8 billion in live sales, more than double the year before.

Whatnot is a livestream shopping platform and social marketplace where commerce unfolds in real time. Sellers host interactive video livestreams to showcase and sell products while audiences watch, chat, bid, and buy instantly, blurring the line between entertainment and retail. Originally built around trading cards and collectables, Whatnot has rapidly expanded into categories including vintage fashion, streetwear, luxury bags, sneakers and, increasingly, beauty. Shoppers can access a mix of mass and luxury beauty, from Sol de Janeiro and Glow Recipe to Charlotte Tilbury, Dior, Fenty Beauty, and Nars, often sold through live auctions, bundles, and mystery boxes at discounts of up to 70%, reinforcing beauty’s appeal as both experiential and attainable.

Beyond Whatnot, a growing ecosystem of live-commerce platforms is accelerating beauty’s rise: Amazon Live brings QVC-style selling to the world’s largest marketplace; CommentSold and Channelize embed shoppable livestreams across owned and social channels; Bambuser powers high-production, enterprise-level activations.

Whatnot’s report highlights a fundamental shift: livestream selling turns transactions into real-time interactive experiences. Sellers build audiences by deepening trust through community instead of commerce. This evolution is especially salient for beauty, where storytelling, sensory appeal, and personality have always driven purchasing decisions. BeautyMatter outlines Whatnot’s key findings.

Seller Economics and Behaviors

Whatnot has rapidly evolved from a side-hustle platform into a full-scale economic ecosystem, reshaping seller behavior, time investment, and income models through live commerce.

• 20 million+ new accounts were created on Whatnot in 2025.
• Users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app.
• Over 500,000 hours of live shows are hosted weekly globally (up 186% year over year (YoY)).
• One in 8 sellers on Whatnot now sell on the platform full time (up 20% YoY).
• 53% of live sellers now earn the majority of annual revenue through live commerce, up from 41% last year.
• Nearly 90% of sellers say live selling outperforms traditional e-commerce.
• Top reasons sellers go live include community building, passion, and income growth (each 35%–36% drivers).
• Sellers are investing in real-world infrastructure: 24% rent commercial space, 15% hire staff.

One of livestream commerce’s clearest lessons is that frequency and authenticity beat sporadic virality. Whatnot data shows sellers who go live daily can earn 100x to 250x more than those who stream infrequently, with daily hosts averaging significantly higher monthly revenue. Consistent presence turns views into loyal buyers and turns sellers into trusted voices. For beauty brands, this signals an opportunity to rethink livestreams not as campaign add-ons, but as ongoing engagement platforms where product demos, tutorials, Q&A, and community rituals live.

While collectables and trading cards were Whatnot’s early anchors, lifestyle categories are now the fastest-growing segments. Beauty sales soared 791% YoY, outpacing electronics, jewelry, and fashion growth, a sign that consumers are embracing live-shopping categories ranging from niche subcultures to everyday skincare products.

Audience and Engagement Metrics

Whatnot’s audience growth and engagement reveal a platform that not only attracts new buyers at speed but keeps them highly active and coming back.

• First-time buyers grew 285% YoY.
• Customer retention is >80% month over month.
• Sellers create over 5 million listings per day.

The growth reflects broader consumer expectations; beauty is about experiences as much as it is about products. Live formats where hosts can swatch, apply, and review in real time turns product experience into part of the sale. That performance layer is difficult to replicate through static product pages or prerecorded videos.

Live commerce’s appeal rests on participatory dynamics. Whatnot reported that nearly 90% of sellers outperform traditional e-commerce channels, with more than half now deriving most of their annual revenue through live selling. Younger sellers, particularly Gen Z, are leading this charge, treating livestreaming as a primary business model rather than a side hustle. For beauty brands, this shift means designing formats that feel less like sales pitches and more like interactive product journeys, community-driven rituals, real-time feedback, and personalities injected into expertise.