Lazada is livestreaming its birthday concert – directly on its app

Southeast Asia ecommerce platform Lazada is pulling out all the stops for its seventh birthday celebration.

The inaugural “Super Party” music concert will be livestreamed on the Lazada app simultaneously across six markets in the region. Slated for March 26, Lazada’s invited guests and fans can also personally attend the concert in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Photo credit: Lazada

Called “shoppertainment” – a mix of shopping and entertainment – the event is the “first-of-its-kind” in Southeast Asia and gives consumers a new experience, claims Lazada.

However, the shoppertainment concept isn’t something new, especially for Lazada’s controlling stakeholder, Alibaba.

The Chinese tech titan livestreamed a variety show on its Tmall shopping app in conjunction with Single’s Day in 2016. While Chinese consumers were being entertained by performances, notifications of upcoming deals would pop up like a picture-in-picture online ad.

And it didn’t stop there. Alibaba has since taken its shoppertainment efforts to a new level with its “See Now, Buy Now” fashion shows.

Photo credit: Alizila

The events allow viewers to purchase any item on the runway in real time via their mobile devices. Orders placed during the events are counted as pre-sales for 11.11 (Single’s Day) and transactions are completed by shoppers after the clock strikes midnight.

Livestream shopping has also become a norm on Alibaba-owned Taobao. Sellers would often go live, offering customers a close and personal preview of upcoming products – often with running commentary. The products will later be uploaded into the vendors’ inventory.

Alibaba kickstarted its journey from just being an ecommerce firm to an entertainment empire in 2014. It was heavily investing in the segment via aggressive acquisitions. The list includes Alibaba Pictures, Taopiaopiao, Youku Tudou, and Damai.