Whatnot
Live Shopping Community
Live shopping is increasingly becoming a key sales channel in the retail industry.
The Whatnot platform, founded in 2019 and now, according to the company, the largest live-shopping marketplace in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, is also experiencing strong growth in Germany. According to the company, its German business has more than tripled in 2025, and further growth is expected in 2026.
At the heart of the concept are live sales, during which sellers present their products in real time, answer questions, and interact directly with their community. While traditional e-commerce platforms are becoming increasingly automated, Whatnot deliberately focuses on personal interaction between sellers and buyers. Artificial intelligence is intended to support these processes, but not to replace human interaction.
The categories that are particularly active in Germany include trading card games, sneakers & streetwear, womenswear, luxury bags, electronics, beauty, and music. The platform is aimed at both specialty retailers and brick-and-mortar retailers looking to expand their reach through live sales.
According to the company, German users spend an average of 86 minutes a day on the platform. Three out of four buyers contact sellers before making a purchase—the highest rate of any Whatnot marketplace worldwide. In addition, one in eight sellers in Germany already sells full-time through the platform. According to Whatnot, sellers who go live daily generate an average monthly revenue of 106,000 euros.
Among the success stories is sneaker retailer Fynn Schwarz (@vaikickz), who generated nearly 400,000 euros in revenue in his first year on Whatnot. Max Muche (@themoootchsupply) from Munich also regularly sells 60 to 70 designer items during three-hour livestreams. Tom Lindemann (@lindestream), on the other hand, built a six-figure business with employees and a brick-and-mortar store starting with just 300 euros in seed capital—solely through the sale of trading cards via live shopping.
According to its own figures, Whatnot processed $8 billion worth of live sales worldwide in 2025. More than 500,000 hours of livestreams take place each week, and the platform gained 20 million new user accounts last year alone.
