Intrepid Travel and Startup Local Purse Test Live Video Shopping for Travelers
Skift Take
It's an appealing idea to harness the growing trend in live-streamed e-commerce to support local artisans.
Live video shopping at faraway destinations has become common in China, where Trip.com Group's webcasts alone have this year sold about $300 million worth of travel packages and hotel room reservations. But Western travel companies have, by and large, left the potential revenue untouched.
Enter, Local Purse, a Swedish company founded this year to help the travel sector tap into live video shopping.
Local Purse has built an e-commerce platform that brands can use. It includes an online chat interface and "buy" buttons. The effort goes a step beyond the webinars and online-only classes that tour operators like GetYourGuide, WithLocals, Context Travel, Walks, Tiqets, Klook, Viator, Airbnb Experiences, and other sightseeing and experiences providers have been tempting people with as a way to ride out the pandemic. Shopping through the video interface is instead a central part
