Busker app brings shopping to live video streaming
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all luring video creators with product enhancements and big budgets — as well as by touting their massive scale and influence.
Just last week, Facebook released Apple TV and Chromecast support for live video. Twitter opened up Periscope to cameras other than smartphones. Google bought FameBit to offer more brand sponsorships.
But younger startups aren't fearful of competing with the three tech giants. Live-streaming apps like Busker and Live.me think they have a way in -- ecommerce.
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Both Busker and Live.me last week introduced shopping experiences in their apps. While watching participating broadcasters, a viewer is two clicks away from purchasing physical or virtual items.
These apps are betting that commerce can be the feature that will differentiate their platforms from bigger competitors and attract up-and-coming musicians and comedians who will find an audience.
"We thought it was important and unique for the broadcaster. We heard them say, 'I'm not here to beg for money, but hey, I need to make a living,'" Tamir Buchler, chief operating officer of Busker, told Mashable
For example, Fabian Zayas-Luciano (aka therealFABE) is a freestyle rapper who will share originals and also rap viewers' comments. During his broadcasts on Busker, viewers can buy downloads of his songs and accessories like stickers and a special "Hat of the Day," for which he charges up to $60.
Zayas-Luciano will simultaneously broadcast on Twitter's Periscope. But there, he and other creators are unable to directly earn cash or sell goods within the app. He does use Periscope and Facebook Live to direct new viewers to Busker.
Some Periscope broadcasters will link to their PayPal address or a GoFundMe account on their streams. The "friction" and "awkwardness" in that process, Buchler said, was one way his team lured Periscope broadcasters to come over to Busker.
In addition to selling items, viewers can pay creators cash in $1, $3, $5, $10 and $20 increments on Busker.
The in-app payment feature is also available on live-streaming platforms YouNow and Kamcord. To compete, Busker is looking to attract an older demographic and offer 85 percent of the revenue to creators.
The app provides 40 percent of his monthly income, Zayas-Luciano said.
"I wanted to use Busker because of the opportunity to be rewarded for my livestreams," Zayas-Luciano said.
Busker's commerce features are powered by Stripe, a payments processor that handles billions of dollars per year in transactions.
"Whether they’re drivers, couriers, caregivers or now buskers, millions of people are using marketplace platforms powered by Stripe to make part-time wages or earn a full-time living in ways that would’ve been nearly impossible a decade ago," Raylene Yung, head of product engineering at Stripe, told Mashable.
For Busker, the marketplace is phase one of its commerce business. In the coming months, the company plans to partner with brands and retailers to offer products for promotion.
Busker's founding team does have a leg-up for offering shopping experience. Buchler worked at comparison shopping site PriceGrabber.com as the director of strategic business development for 10 years.
"This isn't QVC," Buchler said. "But we want to furnish the app and give broadcasters the ability to do as much as they can, to make money."
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Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
