The weird evolution of e-commerce
A much needed audit of the big, bad, bizarre ways we’re being sold to (happy Black Friday!)
MØRNING! Welcome back to QUICK FIRE, our fortnightly dispatch of insight and opinion, straight from the MØRNING studio. And happy almost-Black Friday! D: This week, naturally, we have shopping on the brain. But it’s been this way for a little while. During our panel ‘If nothing is real, how can brands be?’ last month, we asked System and Balenciaga’s Ana Viktoria Dzinic and The Face’s TJ Sidhu what they thought the most real part of the internet was, and they both said “shopping”.
In terms of our desire for things, and our IRL procurement of them, they’re right. But the way we’re shopping is getting weirder and more insidious by the day. The e-shopping landscape now spans the far reaches of the internet, from TikTok shop and Temu, to Telfar and Depop, to NPCs and AI livestreamers, and none of us seem to be immune to its vortex.
So, wtf is going on with eshopping? Why is it so inescapable? What constitutes a ‘good’ e-commerce experience and what constitutes a ‘bad’ one? Who should we be challenging, ourselves or the brands? This week, we’ve done a deep dive into the big, bad, weird world of e-commerce with our Creative Strategist Sui, to try and get to the bottom of it all.
Exhibit A: DRAKE RELATED. The future of e-commerce, or a gimmick for the super rich?
First up, Drake Related, the e-commerce experience that’s earnt the most buzz of late. Put simply, it’s an interactive map of Drake’s famous Toronto mansion The Embassy (and the Air Drake private jet ofc), turned shoppable experience. The items you can shop (you guessed it!) include anything related to Drake. Drake merch, large-scale collaborations like NOCTA x Nike, and smaller scale collaborations via Shopify Collective for example Drake x Funboy.
Some internet users were quick to begrudge the counter-productivity of the layout and the high price range (items range from $20 to $4790), but others hailed Drake Related as the future of e-commerce. While the store is by no means frictionless, it offers innovation, curation and active audience participation at play. Compared to the simplified, passive grid style interaction that has dominated e-commerce UX and UIs for so long, I’d argue that the experience of Drake Related being engaging in itself is a value.
The true reward of this kind of slower multilayered shopping experience may be reserved for passionate fans x adored subjects, and the more luxury leaning. But I’d like to think not. It has the power to take us beyond desires that are merely informed by the latest trends we’ve ingested this week (sorry TikTok shop). How refreshing! $4790 dressing gowns aside, could we all not benefit from a slightly less formulaic, and wholly more imaginative approach to purchasing? Could this shift our relationship towards online shopping, and hopefully encourage more thought around the process?
Exhibit B: TEMU. Is it the game we want to play?
However, if more elevated and interactive experiences were to slowly trickle down from merch to, say, affordable health and beauty and well, all products… would that become worrying? Would we be able to control our late-capitalist, chronically online selves? Enter digital marketplace Temu, hailing from Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo (which, lest we forget, has been embroiled in a lawsuit with the US government after being accused of stealing user data…) The direct-from-manufacturer digital marketplace has something (mega-discounted) for everyone, as per TikTok’s 2.8 billion times viewed #temuhaul.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Along with its competitor Shein, Temu has introduced features of the highly gamified online shopping experience of domestic Chinese sites (such as Taobao, JD) to international audiences. Designed to be addictive, Temu’s products sync up with social media micro-trend cycles and offer additional interactive experiences like livestreams and points systems (for example loyalty points for increased engagement with the app).
As I discussed with Drapers last month, Temu represents a major threat to society and the planet by offering disarmingly good value at the expense of upholding protective ethical or social values.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Exhibit C: ON DEMAND SHOPPING. New hope for a re-calibrated system?
The sad truth is that our current retail models are inherently bad for the planet. Any sustainable vision for e-commerce urgently needs recalibrated systems. And on-demand retailers might just be it. To prevent the accumulation of stock, Alohas sustainable shoe brand uses a hybrid on-demand and in stock sales model, based on their belief that pre-planned shopping is a more responsible method. New collections launch in 3 stages, each with decreasing discounts from pre order to production to delivery stage. The longer you wait to order, the higher the price will get.
Elsewhere, airbrush artist and DTC designer, Cold F33t has brought their 1of1 production model to Jaded London for a limited collaborative project that creates space for slower fashion in a different context. There’s Telfar’s much celebrated Live Pricing System. Not to mention a whole host of smaller DTC brands that make and sell in drops or batches, letting products run until they sell out, and relying on quality and product rather than marketing to push sales. It should be a no brainer: Using innovative pricing systems to boldly uphold sustainable values builds hype and nurtures brand image while doing the responsible thing. What would a future look like if all brands did the same?
Exhibit D: DEPOP, VINTED & EBAY. Power to the people
We can’t discuss the brighter side of e-commerce without touching on the second hand industry, which, thank god, continues to flourish. While new players like Vinted have taken over from eBay to cater to the more lo-fi end of peer-to-peer selling, leader of the pack Depop is busy evolving to accommodate a new host of DTC brands and independent designers, nurturing a budding ecosystem of small business owners in the process.
If we’re talking about gamification of retail: this is the right kind. Depop saw a whole generation of young people become gripped by the hunting for vintage finds IRL and on Depop, buying, styling and selling to their heart’s content - such a widespread phenomenon that it has spawned numerous memes and fashion starlets. Social media-esque UX’s give users all the dopamine-hits of scrolling and double tapping, while supporting the sustainable clothing industry. Win win.
Exhibit E: AI LIVESTREAMERS. There’s good, there’s bad… but what about just plain weird?
Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the rise of digital clones in the steadily growing livestream shopping market. Aka hyper-real virtual hosts > IRL hosts, influencer avatars > IRL influencers. If you need convincing that we’ll all soon be making parasocial besties with virtual livestreamers, just look at the way everyone’s favourite NPC Pinky Doll captured our hearts and minds.
China is already seeing the use of digital clones pick up steam within its highly profitable livestream shopping industry (worth 4.9trillion yuan (£0.5trillion) in sales in 2023, 11% of the entire e-commerce sector). Popular virtual influencer Ayayi this year moved into skincare livestreaming for Shiseido and top influencer Angelababy hosted this year’s Viktor & Rolf singles day livestream alongside her avatar, Angela 3.0.
Compared to their silly little human counterparts, digitally clones are extremely cost effective for livestreams. They create the potential for 24/7 content making: AI hosts and influencers can be programmed to push discounts or simply just be there for the (branded) vibes. Dramatically increasing new opportunities for brand and product discovery. If Kendall Jenner can sell her likeness to Meta for a few hours worth of studio time and come out of it with a digital clone that could basically do all of her work for her, surely any other sizeable influencer would want to do the same? AI startups like China’s Silicon Intelligence have cottoned onto this and are now selling digital avatars back to influencers and media companies eager for the cost effective hack (and for as little as 8000 yuan (roughly £900)).
The widespread curiosity, fascination (and fear) stirred by these new digital clones and their impersonators (NPC streamers) is to be expected at this early stage. However I believe these reactions signal something larger: the shift towards younger audiences placing more value in the virtual world than the real one.
The labour involved in facilitating pure, consistent entertainment for an audience seems to have a new sense of credibility attached to it. Probably because the world so desperately needs any joy it can get right now. Arguably, a good bit of e-commerce is simply one that addresses and understands these new, exciting intersections of commerce and culture. Shamelessly, at that.
So, there we have it, a whistle stop tour of online shopping. Feeling scared? Inspired? There’s cause for both.
But, brands, we hope this serves as inspo to use e commerce to innovate in positive ways. Could sustainable pricing systems limit your waste and build hype for customers? Could you get creative with Depop to sell surplus stock (à la MØRNING)?
As for consumers, maybe we should be less scared of e commerce tactics, and more scared of the companies behind them. Let this serve as your Black Friday reminder: think twice before you buy from somewhere. The brands trying to do things right deserve your pennies way more than the cash grabbers of the land - and you’ll feel more fulfilled for it too. Happy shopping!
Words: Sui Donovan, Letty Cole
Editor: Letty Cole
Wonder if AI will become as addicted to shopping as we are
Also it’s super ironic how as the price of accommodation goes up and up our living spaces get smaller and smaller and yet we are filling them filling them with ever more stuff. Are we going to drown in our hauls like Star Wars’ Princess Leia & co in the trash compactor?