QVC, The Bachelor, and a Substack Walk Into a Storefront
Creator drops, brand days, and why livestreams might finally be working in the US.
Welcome back to Sell! Sell! Sell! 🛍️
👋 It’s Tobias again. This week is a masterclass in remixing the old with the new. QVC, already live on TikTok Shop, is gearing up for a marathon brand day tomorrow. The Bachelor is now fully shoppable via LTK. And creators like Emily Sundberg are skipping social altogether and launching directly from email.
The platforms are in place. The playbooks are evolving. And if you can own your distribution — whether it’s a livestream, a Substack, or a dating show — you can own the sale.
Let’s get into it.
🚨 This Week’s Top Stories
May 13th
💅 LTK Is Now Styling The Bachelor
LTK has partnered with Warner Horizon to launch a new social commerce experience tied to The Bachelor franchise. It features creator-curated collections, affiliate-ready links, and fashion inspired by the show’s weekly episodes — turning dating drama into a storefront.
🎬 QVC x TikTok: Legacy Retail Goes Live
QVC is going all-in on TikTok with a Super Brand Day on May 14 — an 8-hour livestream extravaganza featuring Hoda Kotb, Kathy Hilton, and the debut of its “Q50” creator ambassador squad.
The mission? Get Gen X and beyond shopping on TikTok — live.
🌎 TikTok Shop Expands to Brazil
TikTok Shop has officially launched in Brazil — one of its largest global expansions to date. The launch is being seeded with local creators, affiliate support, and aggressive platform-side incentives to build traction fast.
🎤 This Week’s Seller Spotlight:
Emily Sundberg’s Substack Sales Funnel
Primary Channel | Top Brands / Items | Hook |
Substack (Feed Me) | Newsletter-only drops, cultural trend reports, viral brand mentions (e.g. Erewhon, Djerf Avenue, Auto Bag) | Builds trust and demand through sharp, consistent POV — then monetizes with insider access and intentional scarcity |
Emily Sundberg isn’t just writing about business — she’s building one. Her newsletter Feed Me has become a case study in how to grow and monetize a loyal audience without relying on platform algorithms. With over 50,000 subscribers and rising, she’s proof that owning your distribution channel is one of the strongest plays in social commerce right now.
Her success isn’t built on one-off drops — it’s built on trust, tone, and repetition. She’s launched sold-out collabs, broken trend stories that move product, and introduced an entire generation to the idea of “dupe culture” and soft power retail.
Why it works:
Substack = email = direct line to buyers
She blends analysis with aspirational lifestyle
And most importantly: her readers believe her
This is what creator-led commerce looks like when the product is the POV.
Check out her Substack here
🧠 Brand Move of the Week
QVC Is Quietly Building a TikTok Empire
Not a brand in its traditional form but since QVC launched on TikTok Shop in 2024, they have:
Activated 74,000+ creators
Launched a 24/7 livestream channel on TikTok
Built a new squad of creator-ambassadors (Q50) to connect with older demos
Their Super Brand Day coming up this week is just the loudest moment in a long, strategic rollout. While most brands test the waters with a single campaign, QVC is executing a full-channel, always-on TikTok strategy — and it’s working.
It’s a reminder: when you pair legacy infrastructure with native creator tools, even the oldest brands can still feel new.
Tune in live tomorrow (May 14) on TikTok.
🔭 Trend Watch:
Why is live shopping finally working in the US? 🇺🇸
“More and more, I hear people say: ‘We did three days’ worth of sales in just three hours on TikTok Shop.’”
For years, that stat felt like an edge case — something that only happened in Southeast Asia, or for beauty sellers with massive followings. But lately, it’s starting to feel… normal. QVC is running 24/7 livestreams on TikTok. SharkNinja just wrapped a multi-market livestream brand day. And creators are hopping on with affiliate links, ring lights, and product stacks that sell out live.
So: why now?
✦ The Infrastructure Is Finally There
TikTok made it seamless — the content, the checkout, the affiliate layer — all in one tap. No more linking out or rebuilding a funnel every time.
✦ The Audience Got Trained
From pandemic Zoom fatigue came a new comfort with real-time content. GRWMs, Amazon hauls, get-the-look breakdowns — consumers now expect products to be part of the entertainment.
✦ Western Brands Stopped Over-Engineering It
Here’s the big shift: for years, U.S. brands treated livestreaming like cable TV — overly produced, too safe, too stiff.
TikTok changed that.
Whatnot proved it.
The sellers who win now lead with entertainment. They crack jokes. They trip over their inventory. They tell stories. And the audience doesn’t mind — in fact, it converts better when it’s messy, chaotic, or funny.
“Sometimes they’re laughing with you, sometimes they’re laughing at you — but either way, they’re buying.”
It’s not a perfect science. Livestreaming, like brand marketing, is uncomfortable at first because you can’t always track ROI immediately. But now that the tools are here and the culture has caught up, the timing is finally right.
📊 Numbers that back it up:
TikTok live shopping GMV in the U.S. grew 120% YoY (April 2024–April 2025)
Whatnot sellers who go live 3+ times/week are 2.4x more likely to hit monthly sales goals
Pinterest, Amazon, and eBay have all launched or expanded live shopping tools — and they’re quietly seeing traction, especially around events and seasonal drops
The takeaway?
Livestreams are no longer an experiment. They’re a real channel — you just have to treat them like content, not commercials.
See you next week. In the meantime —
Sell! Sell! Sell! 🫡