Walmart targets book lovers with latest livestream offering

Walmart is connecting customers directly with authors as part of its newest livestream shopping effort.

The discount giant is continuing the partnership it launched in February 2022 with Talkshoplive, a livestream shopping solution that enables consumers to interactively shop and make purchases within the video player on any embedded site. Walmart and Talkshoplive are collaborating with book distributor ReaderLink to launch the Walmart Live Book Club.

Viewers of Walmart Live Book Club livestream events can interact with authors and directly purchase books. Upcoming Walmart Live Book Club authors and books include Colleen Hoover with “Verity” on August 25, as well as Erin Sterling with “The Kiss Curse” and Jennifer Lynne Barnes with “The Final Gambit” in September.

Walmart and Talkshoplive initially began a trial period in 2021, which fully allowed the retailer to provide shoppable content through Talkshoplive’s embeddable video player directly on Walmart.com/live, MSN shopping tab, and other product partner sites. Through the solution’s proprietary video player, customers are able to purchase products within the video content, with a system that is embeddable on almost any site.

Since hosting a successful holiday-themed shoppable livestream event on TikTok in December 2020, Walmart has tested numerous shoppable livestream events across multiple platforms. These have included multiple events hosted on the TikTok short video platform, as well as partnering with social/TV influencer Ree Drummond, also known as “Pioneer Woman,” and her daughter Alex Scott to demo some of their favorite products from the Walmart-exclusive Pioneer Woman collection in a livestream shopping event on Facebook.

And in June 2022, Walmart began collaborating with Roku Inc. to enable consumers to buy items with just a click on their Roku remote while streaming television programs. The partnership will combine product discovery with a “seamless” checkout experience, the companies said.

[Read more: Walmart enters shoppable TV via exclusive deal with Roku]

"As our programming with Walmart has expanded to include several weekly live shopping programs across multiple verticals, we are thrilled to continue connecting the retail landscape with our incredible partners at ReaderLink to launch the Walmart Live Book Club powered by Talkshoplive," said Bryan Moore, co-founder and CEO of Talkshoplive. "Books are one of our leading categories at Talkshoplive enabling authors to see monumental success in pre-order sales and continuing to move the needle for their New York Times chart position. By connecting authors directly to their fans in these interactive Talkshoplive experiences, Walmart once again leads with putting the customers first and providing an avenue for authors to move significant units while creating the best fan experiences around their book launches."

"ReaderLink and Talkshoplive have been partners for many years and we have been amazed at the success authors have seen promoting their books on the platform. We are very excited about the launch of the Walmart Live Book Club and are certain it will drive sales and bring increased visibility to the overall book category at Walmart," said David Barker, executive VP and chief marketing officer of ReaderLink.

Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and clubs under 46 banners in 24 countries and e-commerce websites.