It was when Chitresh Parihar, CEO and co-founder of Baaz, was getting married last year that he got a brainwave. “My bride-to-be was looking for a lehenga, and we were in Bengaluru, and she wanted to shop from a place in Delhi. The shop owners asked her to get on a video call with them. They walked her through their lehengas, and then they sent her a payment link on WhatsApp and she paid them. It was then that I thought, why not combine all those avenues together on one platform?” And that’s when the idea for Baaz was formed. “The difference is that you get the link on the same screen, and pay right then even as the vendor is still with you on the call.”

Baaz, the ultimate live video commerce tool, is a reflection of how live shopping, or video shopping, is looking to become the future of retail. The second lockdown, which forced us back into our homes, has made sure that die-hard shoppers, and even the reluctant ones, look at the online retail experience as the one to adopt. According to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in 2021, global ecommerce sales rose to almost $4.8 trillion and climbing. It said that 5G will trigger an explosion in live shopping and video commerce. This trend is projected to become a 961 billion yuan ($135 billion) industry this year in China, according to Chinese data provider iResearch. In India, it’s just quite starting out. Along with market places like Simsim, which was acquired by YouTube, smaller players like Baaz are also flooding the sector. YouTube also launched a YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop, which features creators recommending products. In a blog post, Wendy Yang, Product Designer, YouTube Shopping, said,  “We created YouTube.com/Shopping as a temporary destination that allows you to revisit livestreams, discover new ones, and browse products shown in the videos in categories such as makeup, skincare, haircare, and electronics. Heading into 2022, YouTube will continue building and investing in shopping, including features for video on demand and personalised shopping.” RedSeer, a Bengaluru-based consultancy, says the ecommerce industry will grow to $140 billion by 2025, and social commerce players will contribute at least five per cent.