New Delhi: In a world where online shopping is about flashy discounts and promises of super quick deliveries, a problem has often lurked around the borders of India’s digital retail market — trust. It’s not unusual for people to be suspicious about the authenticity of a product, concerned about being scammed and reluctant to buy without knowing for sure what they’re getting. Filling that vacuum is Lyvstor, a new live shopping platform, and its mission to restore consumer trust in the digital space.
Lyvstor Founded by entrepreneur Rachna Gupta, Lyvstor is creating a category by combining entertainment, social engagement and live commerce. Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms, Lyvstor lets customers view a product live, talk to sellers and get their doubts cleared in real-time. For sellers, particularly micro- and small businesses, including women entrepreneurs, the platform is an opportunity to demonstrate authenticity and connect with digital-first audiences.”
From Social Seller to Entrepreneur
The StartI was recommended this wonderfully fragrant virgin hibiscus seed oil for my acne-prone skin. After the very first use, I was dumbfounded — my complexion was completely transformed, clear, hydrated and smoother. Trust turned out to be the biggest hurdle of what first seemed a moment of opportunity. She remembers that nearly every buyer she spoke to wanted further verification — a live video, a demonstration of the product in use, a guarantee of authentication.
Almost 90% of sellers in India have the same problem, Gupta says. “Buyers want proof. They’re wary of fraud, product misalignment or maybe not getting what they ordered.”
And it was this same recurring disconnect between seller intention and buyer confidence that sowed the germ of Lyvstor. Gupta knew that no number of product photographs or bristly reviews could substitute for the reassurance of witnessing a product in real time.
Birth of Lyvstor
Eager to find a solution, Gupta founded Lyvstor at the name of Livsto Apparels OPC Private Limited. The startup found early backing and mentoring support of institutions like the NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore and Chitkara University and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU).
The vision behind Lyvstor is rather simple, but impactful: a platform where sellers can go live, showcase their products, and interact directly with potential buyers. This allows the platform to lift the veil of uncertainty that shrouds traditional online shopping. Gone are the days when customers have to rely on photos or scripted reviews, and can witness the product in action before pulling the trigger.
Redefining Online Shopping
The concept of live-stream shopping is nothing new outside the United States. Platforms in China and in the United States have already tested this model in which social media entertainment is mixed with e-commerce. But in India, the trend is in its early days. Gupta thinks Lyvstor is well-suited to customize the model to the local context.
“India is a market where word of mouth and personal connections matter a lot,” she says. “People want to see the seller, have conversation and judge the products live. Lyvstor enables exactly that.”
The platform, through its structure, also aids social sellers, micro-entrepreneurs, and women-led businesses to create credibility without giant marketing budgets by providing visibility. Authenticity, then, is the small sellers’ biggest asset, and Lyvstor helps magnify it.
The Trust Factor
Trust is the core of Lyvstor. Trust has been one of the weakest links in the e-commerce chain in India for a long time. Although marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart are backed by brand guarantees and return policies, smaller sellers are unable to compete with their standards.
Lyvstor has already solved this problem by incorporating real-time interactivity. Prospective buyers can request a seller show how a dress fits on, how a gadget works or how a piece of jewelry shimmers in daylight. And because this message is direct, it increases trust, and minimizes disputes, returns, and customer unhappiness.
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
Another of Lyvstor’s model’s important impacts is the encouragement of female entrepreneurship. Women who run home-based businesses in India face challenges in migrating online. Traditional e-commerce takes technical expertise, digital marketing acumen and planning for logistics — all of which can serve as barriers.
Lyvstor simplifies the process. And sellers need only to get live and engage with their customers, pretty much the way they do in a real marketplace. Gupta points to how this democratizes access: “Women sellers who previously relied on small neighborhood markets can now have access to buyers across the country, servicing clients with an intimacy and trust that would not have been possible otherwise.”
Industry Backing and Recognition
Institutions like NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore backing the platform is a further testament of live-stream commerce gaining prominence in the digital ecosystem of the country. These relationships not only add validity, they also guide Lyvstor by supplying mentorship, paths to fundraising and paths to growth.
Experts in India’s e-commerce industry view live-streaming as the next logical step for online retail in the country. As internet penetration continues to reach further into the population and consumption behaviour increasingly shifts toward video-based engagement, platforms such as Lyvstor could be the face of a new generation of digital commerce.
Looking Ahead
For Gupta, the vision is about more than just building another shopping app. Lyvstor is, to her, a trust-building ecosystem — it’s one that addresses consumer concerns while also creating opportunities for smaller sellers.
“Trust is the linchpin of any marketplace,” she says. “If people have confidence, they will return. To the extent that sellers can source verifiable authenticity, they will thrive. Lyvstor bridges that gap.”
With India’s digital economy taking off, Lyvstor is a bridge between new and old — mixing the comfort of face-to-face selling with the efficiencies of the internet. If its model works, it could revolutionize thinking about e-commerce in the world’s second-largest internet market, where trust has been an afterthought, not the foundation upon which transactions are built.
Founder Rachna Gupta:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachnaagupta
Brand lyvstor
App link- https://bit.ly/Lyvstor
Website www.lyvstor.com
