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1. Introduction
Social and technological changes in recent years have accelerated the development of consumer-centric supply chain management (CCSCM) which prioritizes the consumer experience in all supply chain decisions (Baldi et al., 2024; Esper et al., 2020). With the advancement of telecommunication and information technology, such as high-efficiency video coding and 5G networks, livestream selling is becoming a novel practice adopted by online retailers to build a CCSC, which has gained significant momentum around the world. Many giant e-commerce retailers, such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba and JD, have adopted livestream selling over the past few years (Yao et al., 2024). In China, at least 530 million consumers participated in livestream selling in 2023, and sales from livestream selling are expected to reach $843.93 billion by 2025 (Shalabi, 2023). In the United States, the sales from livestream selling amounted to $17 billion in 2022, and it is expected to reach $130.10 billion by 2026 (Chevalier, 2024; Shalabi, 2023). Additionally, livestream selling has begun to emerge more prominently over the past several years in Europe, drawing in a growing number of viewers (Coppola, 2024; Muret, 2022).
In livestream selling, online retailers hire streamers to sell products through real-time interactions with consumers, who can make purchases during live videos. This approach significantly enhances consumer shopping experiences by integrating chat, video and purchase functions into an independent e-commerce platform (Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2020). The chat function enables consumers to interact with both streamers and co-viewers during the live video, allowing them to ask questions and provide immediate and synchronous feedback in the chat room (Sun et al., 2019). The video function allows sellers (or streamers agents) to present detailed product features and respond promptly to consumer inquiries in the chat room. With the purchase function, consumers can buy products and complete transactions directly in the live video without jumping to other sites or applications. These characteristics of livestream selling provide great convenience for consumers and also distinguish it as a channel distinct from traditional e-commerce sales channels, such as TV home shopping and telemarketing. Specifically, livestream selling is two-way communication and provides real-time product displays and immediate purchases. Unlike conventional telemarketing, which relies on phone calls and audio mediums, livestream selling enables consumers to view...