The ‘livestream revolution’ has arrived, with related shopping “transforming online retail, blending community and commerce”, according to a new report.

‘The Live Selling Revolution: 2025 European Market Report’ commissioned by international livestream shopping platform Whatnot reveals that live selling is rapidly gaining traction across Europe as 37% of consumers turn to these platforms more frequently this year.

Live shopping is now booming in the UK and mainland Europe, with revenue projected to hit £65 million by 2030. McKinsey predicts it could account for 20% of online sales by 2026, and this report claims that 78% of European live sellers plan to expand their efforts this year.

Whatnot’s own data also reveals 37% of European consumers are shopping via livestreams more frequently this year;  70% of UK sellers now generate the majority of their income from live selling; cross-border sales between the UK, France, and Germany are growing 40% month-on-month; shoppers are tuning in more than ever, watching 20,000+ hours of live streams weekly; and with fashion leading the charge – growing 90% a quarter in the UK – live commerce is becoming a major force in how consumers discover and buy products.

Whatnot said it has seen a 600% year-on-year increase in European sellers, “helping people turn their hobbies into side hustles and full-time businesses, as well as accelerating success for brands and small businesses”. 

The report also delves into why live sellers across Europe are using livestream platforms to expand their businesses and build communities. Some 42% of sellers view community-building as a key motivation for starting to live sell, while just over a third have leveraged live selling “to follow their passions and transition into more fulfilling careers”.

Currently, 94% of European live sellers consider the medium “an essential component of their business success”, with 59% generating more than half of their total revenue from live selling alone.

Live sellers cite notable benefits such as larger revenues (42%), larger online communities (41%), and stronger customer relationships (38%).

Daniel Fisher, Whatnot UK general manager, says: “Live shopping is more than just a trend – it’s a new way to engage customers, build communities, and grow businesses. In the UK, 70% of our sellers now generate the majority of their revenue through live selling, highlighting the vital role of dedicated platforms like Whatnot.”

Consumer confidence may be struggling, but not so retail. Optimism’s high regarding profits and growth for the year ahead, as high as it has been in nearly 10 years, a new survey shows.

Confidence in March among retailers leapt to its highest level since August 2015,  according to the Lloyds Business Barometer with its sentiment index for the sector having risen seven points to 58%. That’s much higher than the overall business confidence reading of 49%, which was still a seven-month high and unchanged from the previous month.

The data comes after estimates from the Office for National Statistics last week revealed that retail sales rose in January and February, up by 1.4% and 1% respectively. Separate figures from the ONS also showed that real incomes increased at their fastest pace in nearly a decade at the end of last year, helping to fuel a rise in consumer spending.

Consumption could be further boosted if households save less each month: the ONS said that the economy-wide savings ratio was well above its long-run average at 12 per cent in the final quarter of last year.

Lloyds carried out the survey of 1,200 businesses before the government’s Spring Statement, which cut welfare spending as part of a £14 billion package to restore the UK’s thin fiscal headroom.

Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking, said: “Business confidence remained steady this month, suggesting that UK companies may have been waiting to see the impact of government decisions at home and globally.

“Despite this, [the] data continues to reflect a positive growth trend in the UK economy. With confidence maintaining last month’s high, business leaders are optimistic, noting that investing in their development and workforce will position them well to seize future growth opportunities.”

Lloyds said that nearly two thirds of businesses expected to grow in the coming year, while there was a small dip in companies’ hiring plans in the coming year.

Lloyds said that 63% of companies expect to increase prices over the coming year, while 2% plan to cut them.

Many consumers can’t have failed to notice the large and seemingly unnecessary amount of packaging that comes with online orders. So it’s no wonder that in the 10 years since the plastic bag levy was introduced in the UK, e-commerce waste is still driving billions of plastic bags to landfill, with Britain the worst contributor in Europe.

To avoid undoing the progress of the levy, sustainable packaging company DS Smith is calling for legislation to evolve in line with e-commerce growth and for retailers “to speed up efforts to replace plastic bags”. It’s calling for urgent action from both retailers and government.

And now for some embarrassing numbers. Online fashion retailers delivered 941 million plastic bags to UK shoppers last year alone, equating to 2.6 million bags every day, widening the gap between high street and online retail in efforts to move away from plastic bags.

Online fashion retailers are also set to deliver seven billion plastic bags by 2030 to UK shoppers (130,000 an hour), with nearly one billion sent out last year alone just in the UK.

Only 9% of the fashion e-commerce bags delivered across the UK are currently being reused or recycled.

So 10 years on from the introduction of the levy (which has cut high street usage by 98% since 2015), e-commerce plastic bag use has rapidly increased and 91% of the billions of bags end up in landfill or incineration, equating to 857 million bags just last year.

The growth in e-commerce and slow progress on increasing recycling rates mean by 2030, over 1 billion plastic bags will end up in landfill or burned annually.

The UK is also revealed as the largest individual market for e-commerce plastic delivery bags among large European economies, according to analysis by Development Economics, and commissioned by DS Smith. Germany comes second.

Meanwhile, consumer polling shows that 67% of Britons want plastic bags phased out where replacements are available and 60% of shoppers say they prefer to receive their shopping wrapped in cardboard or paper.

Half of UK shoppers say they feel guilty about the amount of plastic their orders come in and think the responsibility to reduce the use of plastic sits with retailers (51%), packaging companies (44%) and government (24%). Almost half of shoppers (46%) say they’d be more likely to order from a fashion retailer that uses easily recyclable packaging.

Stefano Rossi, Divisional CEO Packaging at DS Smith, said: “With some of the biggest brands in the world, we estimate that we’ve already replaced more than one billion pieces of plastic over the last four years – but we must do more. While online shopping has grown, e-commerce retailers lag high-street stores when it comes to replacing plastic bags. Brands like Zalando have proved change is possible, but there is a blocker; there simply aren’t enough paper alternatives available and our industry needs to step up to provide them.

Rossi added: “It will be tempting for businesses to fixate on price, but sticking with plastic comes at a cost – consumers don’t want it, and brands risk their reputation by ignoring that. We think legislation can and should be more demanding of us all — phasing out certain plastics to help create a level playing field that encourages innovation, investment, and generates healthy competition to replace plastic.”