buywith, a Livestream shopping platform startup, announced that it had completed a $9.5 million seed round. The company will use the investment to meet surging customer demand and grow its sales, marketing, and R&D teams across the globe, focusing on North America. The company was founded in 2018 by Adi Ronen Almagor and Eyal Sinai. It has offices in Tel Aviv, has recently registered an entity in the US, and is opening offices in the UK to expand its European market presence.
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As featured previously in Business Insider and Glossy – Walmart, the world’s leading retailer, is increasing its integration with the buywith platform to acquire and engage customers. buywith is also launching partnerships with Steve Madden, Charlotte Tilbury, and other global brands thanks to the platform’s fast and easy to implement integration, patent-pending technology, and an engaging, interactive and guided shopping experience, which until now has only been experienced in physical retail stores.
After a series of integrations, the buywith platform has delivered an 8X increase in eCommerce conversions, an increase of ~40% session engagement rate, and an average 10x ROI.
These days buywith is launching a self-serve marketplace where brands can select the host for their Livestream shopping sessions directly from the buywith’s growing vetted content creators community. Along with the technological superiority, this is another unique selling point that enables brands to easily scale their Livestream shopping campaigns with influencer-led sessions.
“As one of the first brands to use buywith’s Livestream Shopping Platform, we are extremely proud to be an industry leader in this field,” says Alexandra Perry, Head Of Retail Marketing, Omnichannel, and Innovation at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. ״Our makeup artists and social media influencers conducted dozens of live shopping sessions. By utilizing the technology, we achieved very high sales conversion and engagement rates. We also engaged with our audience in a unique way.״
Retailers and brands use the buywith platform to host on-site Livestream shopping events featuring influencers, experts, and brand representatives. An unlimited number of viewers can shop live and interact with the hosts and brand. Unlike other Livestream shopping solutions, buywith does not require app downloads or code integration and creates a turnkey “Shop With Me” experience.
The seed round is led by igniteXL Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based global fund with a special focus on technology-driven beauty and wellness investments. “Given the explosion of Livestream shopping in Asia, we are about to witness the rapid growth of this channel in the West. Unlike other Livestream shopping solutions, buywith hosts Live shopping sessions directly on the brand’s website, meeting the customers where they are and increasing the conversion rate to unprecedented levels in eCommerce”, said Claire Chang, General Partner at igniteXL Ventures.
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Other notable investors include Fab Co-Creation Studio Ventures, founded by Odile Roujol, former CEO of Lancome, Alibaba.com’s former President of North America and Europe, John Caplan and Alibaba.com GM of North America, Kevin Ambrosini, Regah Ventures, Irani CVC, the venture arm of Factory54, the leading luxury retailer in Israel, True., the UK-based e-commerce, and retail fund Sarona Ventures, Andav Capital, and NEOME – Women Investing club. The company is proud to be backed by no less than 18 female investors from Israel, the US, and Europe.
“Live commerce is a key to increasing eCommerce conversion rates. Approximately 30% of shoppers walk out of a physical retailer having bought something, while today’s eCommerce results in ~4% conversion rates globally. buywith aims to close this gap.” said John Caplan, Alibaba.com’s former President of North America and Europe, who participated in the round.
Livestream shopping is the next step in the evolution of eCommerce, bound to become the natural way buyers shop, as they are seeking better value, information, and a more engaging and immersive shopping experience. 2021 racked up $300 billion in global Livestream Shopping sales, and the trend is projected to surpass $35 billion in the US by 2023.