Facebook Acquired Packagd to Build a Live Shopping Feature
Facebook has acquired a video-shopping startup earlier this year to help build a live shopping feature inside the company’s Marketplace product.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook bought Packagd, a company founded by KPCB general partner Eric Feng, a serial entrepreneur who has also served as CTO of companies like Hulu and Flipboard.
Packagd's 'Unboxed' app curates a wide array of unboxing and product review videos that creators have uploaded to YouTube and puts them together in a way that simulates the same type of live video programming pioneered by the likes of QVC in the ’80s.
Bloomberg claims that Packagd's team is alreay working on a project for Marketplace, which would let users make purchases while watching live video broadcasts.
A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed the efforts. “As we’ve shared in the past, we’re exploring ways to let buyers easily ask questions and place orders within a live video broadcast,“ she said in a statement.
Live shopping is growing in popularity Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made it an important element of its Single’s Day this year, a massively popular one-day event that generated $38 billion in sales.
Facebook's Marketplace product has nearly 1 billion monthly users and launched just three years ago. Instagram has also said that shopping will be a key focus in 2020, and recently added the ability for users to buy directly from brands inside the app.