Shopping Events: Why Experiences Are Transforming Ecommerce
Conventional online stores have delivered on their No. 1 promise – products are now available 24/7. But this very fact has made attention the scarcest resource in ecommerce, opening up new opportunities for shopping events.
Shopping events replace anonymity with a sense of connection
As it becomes easier and easier to compare products and as reach grows increasingly expensive, a well-functioning online store is no longer enough on its own. This means that competition is increasingly shifting from the product itself to the shopping experience. In the form of interactive livestreams, exclusive auctions, or time-limited special deals, shopping events are playing a bigger and bigger role, transforming anonymous online shopping into an experience. And it’s not necessarily the lowest price that drives sales, but factors like attention, entertainment, and interaction.
Julia Greven (LiveShopping4U), Social & Discovery Commerce Lab Lead for the Ecommerce working group at the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW), explains what lies behind this development:
“Shopping events are becoming more important not in spite of 24/7 availability, but precisely because of it. In a world where an overwhelming abundance of products is constantly within reach, spectacle, entertainment, and a perception of scarcity guide consumers, spark emotions, and trigger purchase intent. It isn’t discounts alone that influence decisions – it’s also the sense of urgency an event creates. Shoptainment is the new sales promotion.”
Live shopping combines entertainment and purchasing
Few formats bring these mechanisms together as seamlessly as live shopping does today. Instead of just looking at products, consumers experience them in action: Creators answer questions in real time, demonstrate products, and respond instantly to the community. Entertainment, guidance, and the purchase itself merge into a single shared experience.
Live shopping works especially well when a product’s added value becomes clear within just a few seconds. Cosmetics can be applied right there and then, fashion showcased live, and electronic gadgets explained in a matter of minutes.
TikTok turns live shopping into a modern, mass-market phenomenon
TikTok is one of the biggest drivers of this trend. Launched in Germany at the end of March 2025, TikTok Shop combines creator content, organic reach, shoppable videos, and interactive livestreams to create a commerce model that TikTok itself describes as discovery commerce.
What sets the TikTok Shop model apart from conventional online stores is that people don’t search for products – they discover them. The customer journey doesn’t begin with a search query, but with content. This means that commerce is increasingly driven by algorithms rather than traditional product searches. Recommendations from the community, authentic creators, and live shopping build trust and significantly shorten the path from inspiration to purchase. And that’s why TikTok Shop is widely regarded as one of the strongest examples of social commerce in action today.
Want to know more? Then take a look at our guide “Five Top Examples of Social Commerce and Livestream Shopping”.
eBay revives live auctions
In an interesting development, eBay is reminding us that live shopping has long been more than just a social media trend. The online marketplace has revived a familiar successful model and brought it up to date for 2026. With eBay Live, live auctions – which captivated many users back in the early 2000s – are making a comeback. Today, they take place directly on the website or in the app.
These live shopping categories are particularly in demand:
- Fashion
- Trading Card Games
- Luxury Fashion
- Coins & Bullion
- Electronics
- Sports Singles & Breaks
- Watches & Jewelry
With all of these products, exclusivity, a passion for collecting, or expertise add an extra emotional dimension to the purchase.
Shopping events aren’t limited to livestreams
Shopping events don’t necessarily have to be live. Increasingly, brands and platforms are creating their own seasonal retail experiences. For example, JD.com’s Joybuy shopping platform debuted a “Summer Black Friday” shopping event in June 2026, offering exclusive deals for two weeks.
By creating their own seasonal online sale events, platforms are no longer restricted to established promotional periods.
As a result, the number of highlights on the retail calendar continues to grow:
- Newcomer: Summer Black Friday
- Traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the fall
- Amazon’s Prime Days, repeated several times a year
- Singles’ Day, originating in China
The common feature shared by all these promotions is that they transform the act of purchasing into an event. Limited availability, exclusive offers, and curated spectacle generate a buzz in a market where products alone are no longer able to capture consumers’ attention.
The takeaway: Shopping events are about experiences, not products
Live shopping, social commerce, and new shopping events point to changing trends in digital retail. Shopping events are less a new sales format and more a response to a market in which products are available around the clock and traditional online stores have increasingly lost their distinctive appeal.
Attention, not availability, is now the primary currency in digital commerce. Formats that capture attention, build communities, and blend entertainment with commerce are able to trigger consumers’ urge to buy in a way that traditional online stores are increasingly unable to achieve.
What to learn more about the future of ecommerce? Then make sure your itinerary includes the “Trends in Commerce 2027” panel discussion at the DMEXCO Commerce Summit – powered by BVDW. And, for a deep dive into the dynamics of the beauty industry, the “Discovery is Social, Attention Is Yesterday’s Currency – What Will Win the Next Era of Beauty Marketing?” panel discussion is not to be missed. Secure your ticket for DMEXCO 2026 now and discover the trends that will shape the future of digital commerce.
