Live video shopping tech firm Bambuser's sales surge as retailers try new formats
20/08/2021 10:17
STOCKHOLM, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Swedish live video shopping
technology provider Bambuser's BUSER.ST sales soared in the
second quarter as retailers' interest in trying the new channel
accelerated during the pandemic.
Bambuser said on Friday sales were up 411% from a year
earlier to 27 million crowns ($3.1 million), with monthly
recurring revenue up 263% as it continued to convert
proof-of-concept agreements into long-term agreements.
The new retail channel, which has already taken off in China
and to some extent in other parts of Asia, is starting to grow
in Europe and North America as consumers move online and
shopping behaviours change.
"All our key metrics point in the right direction," CEO
Maryam Ghahremani said in a statement. "Today, most of our
agreements run for 12 months. However, during the second
quarter, we've also begun signing agreements with durations of
24 and 36 months."
Bambuser, one of many fast-growing tech firms in the Nordic
country which has the third-highest startup rate in the world,
reported an operating loss of 43 million crowns for the period,
down from a profit of 6 million. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NS5CZ
Bambuser in May announced it had agreed to buy Swedish
influencer marketing agency Relatable to help it stand out among
competitors on a global market set to boom.
Ghahremani at the time told Reuters Bambuser had no plans to
enter China, where livestream shopping has rapidly become a
must-do for retailers and where Alibaba's BAB.N Taobao
dominates the market. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2N416P
($1 = 8.8279 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
((anna.ringstrom@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 502 423 74; Reuters
Messaging: anna.ringstrom.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))