Small and medium-sized enterprises make up over 99 per cent of the UK’s grand total, and just over 4.1 million of those are run by sole proprietorships or partnerships. In Yorkshire and the Humber, there are 388,600 small and medium-sized businesses, per the Forbes business statistics report from 2024. That’s more than in the East Midlands, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

It’s a very competitive scene, especially with so many also adopting online platforms for additional orders and sales. While small businesses making websites has been the big change in recent years, now there’s another step to potentially tap into. Live streaming took off tremendously at the turn of the decade, and now, several businesses are finding ways to leverage it to enhance sales and customer engagement.

Live streaming becoming commonplace for businesses

Live streaming has been around, accessible, and of a high quality for quite some time now. Social media platforms, in particular, have leveraged live streaming to let its users connect to audiences and their peers in real-time. So, it won’t come as a surprise that, in the UK, the likes of Instagram and TikTok are the most used platforms for live commerce, being used by over 70 per cent of live shoppers.

It’s not just about buying from other people, though. Live streaming can connect to people online in a myriad of different ways. The Hippodrome casino online platform live streams its real in-house table games for its online users. They can then play roulette, blackjack, and the like in real-time as they’re being run by croupiers in the London venue. Quooker are also utilising live streaming to enhance its offering with live virtual demos.

Live commerce offering another path to profits

What truly picked up mainstream adoption in China has spread across the Far East to become a powerful format of sales. In China, live commerce is worth over $500 billion. In Europe and North America, however, live commerce hasn’t exactly boomed to prominence. Rather, it’s still growing slowly. This gives savvy small business owners to stake a claim in the novel format of sales and, with some charisma and a strong format, rise to prominence.

The figures suggest – as does the adoption of live streaming tech in the UK – that there is a market for live commerce. One in four are said to have live shopped and at least 60 per cent of people are aware of the concept. Much of the UK’s live commerce market centres on individuals selling their stuff on social media, but a small business could use those same platforms, but give their stream a professional and more organised approach.

Another element to keep in mind is the kinds of products that live commerce has appeal with. According to the McKinsey research insights, clothing, electronics, hair care, and fashion accessories are the main product categories that have generated sales in live streams. This is in stark contrast to China, where groceries leads the way, with footwear in third, followed by skincare.

Live streaming isn’t for everyone, but in its nascent state in the UK, it looks to be begging for a nimble small business to crack the code. The keys to success are having a community-first outlook, crafting a well-structured show that coaxes people to tune in for longer, having surprise benefits for viewers – like limited items or vouchers – and making sure that purchases through your chosen platform are easy and secure.

Someone’s going to break through in live commerce eventually, and it might just be an inventive small business from Yorkshire.

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