London-based e-commerce platform Tilt has scaled its user base to more than one million buyers as real-time video shopping gains traction across European markets. Launched in 2023 by cofounders Neil Shah and Abhinavan Thanendran, the platform enables sellers to host live interactive broadcasts where viewers bid on items ranging from luxury apparel and collectible sneakers to consumer electronics and household clearance goods.<\/p>\n
While live video shopping has evolved into a massive industry across Asia over the past several years, Western retail has historically relied on static online storefronts and traditional product pages. Tilt is attempting to bridge this divide by substituting static photography with fast-paced video auctions, using proprietary artificial intelligence tools to remove the operational hurdles that typically hinder online resellers.<\/p>\n
To differentiate itself from established competitors like California-based Whatnot, Tilt developed an in-house computer vision and natural language processing infrastructure. The multi-layered multimodal AI system scans video feeds in real time to automatically identify product brands, evaluate physical condition, estimate market pricing, and publish complete catalog listings. According to company metrics, the automated system achieves roughly 90% accuracy, with seller corrections continuously feeding back into the machine learning models to improve future performance.<\/p>\n
The underlying business concept originally emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical store shutdowns prompted Thanendran to design video-based local pickup tools for independent retailers. The software eventually shifted into a broader resale ecosystem encompassing sports memorabilia, designer watches, beauty items, and liquidation inventory, including large home appliances that might otherwise be discarded.<\/p>\n
The high-frequency auction model has established a commercial channel for independent sellers operating on the app. Data provided by the company indicates that high-volume sneaker resellers on the platform generate up to $260,000 in monthly sales. Other platform merchants include Maddie, a 22-year-old deaf seller living with fibromyalgia who expanded her streetwear business beyond $100,000 in monthly sales in June, and a 17-year-old merchant who expanded from a home bedroom operation to more than $100,000 in total sales over a few months.<\/p>\n