Live streams have become the new QVC programs, and Twitch is hopping onto the bandwagon. The Amazon-owned platform is linking up with its parent company to populate a new Shopping category that showcases streamers who are selling products to their viewers.
The new Twitch category has been given prime real estate on the platform’s homepage. A labeled button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen leads users to a directory, where they can discover creators who are hawking everything from shoes to skincare products to VR headsets.
Kotaku notes that the current faces of the Twitch Shopping category aren’t necessarily Twitch stars. Instead, Amazon Live sellers are taking up space on the platform that Amazon acquired in 2014 for approximately $970 million.
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In the decade-plus since Amazon added Twitch to its arsenal, the retail giant has sometimes seemed unsure about what to do with a platform best known for hosting video game streams. For years, ecommerce was little more than a curiosity on Twitch. Even after shoppable streams showed up for the first time, only a limited number of creators gained access to that feature.
The growth of live shopping has changed the conversation. Whatnot is an ecommerce unicorn powered by broadcasts that look a lot like Twitch streams, and TikTok has credited live content as a key sales driver for luxury items.
To keep pace, Amazon has made Twitch more shoppable. Product-linked ads have brought more conversions to the platform, sponsored campaigns have been extended to Affiliates, and in-browser demos have preserved Twitch’s gaming DNA as it pivots toward ecommerce.
So far, the streamers featured in the Shopping category haven’t picked up many views, but that could be about to change. The new hub debuted just before the beginning of Prime Days, Amazon’s annual sales bonanza. That event could drive shoppers to Twitch, but will they find the deals they crave?
