ARCA WW COO warns live-shopping FOMO can strain supply chains

ARCA WW COO Sebastián Castellanos Duque argues that mega-event live-shopping spikes can damage unit economics, returns, and brand trust if operations are not built for sudden demand. He says brands should prioritize supply chain certainty over viral impulse buying, especially during global sporting events.

Why it matters: - Mega-event live shopping can create a fast burst of demand, but that spike can overwhelm logistics, support, and returns handling. - For many brands, the result is lower margins, more customer complaints, and weaker brand equity. - The risk is highest for premium and high-consideration products that depend on trust, curation, and precise fulfillment.

What happened: - Sebastián Castellanos Duque, COO of ARCA WW and partner at Rappi, argued that brands chasing FOMO during global sporting events are treating a supply chain stress test like a growth strategy. - He said agencies are pitching flash drops, live-stream urgency, and algorithm-driven tactics to capture attention around the global soccer tournament. - Non-endemic brands are using e-commerce live shopping as a workaround because official sponsorship rights are tightly controlled. - Castellanos Duque shared his view in a commentary tied to the 2026 sporting-event marketing cycle. - More information is available on his LinkedIn profile.

The details: - Castellanos Duque pointed to the study “Impulse buying in live streaming e-commerce,” published on ScienceDirect, as evidence that emotional arousal and parasocial interaction drive many live-stream purchases. - He said that same environment can produce a sharp demand spike followed by an “impulse hangover.” - He cited consumer behavior research from SimplicityDX showing that 56% of shoppers feel regret after impulse purchases. - The same research found that impulse buyers are more likely to return items. - The research also found that 39% of those buyers share negative post-purchase experiences on social media. - It found that 36% blame poor quality and 26% say the product did not match the online presentation. - Castellanos Duque said return processing and overloaded support teams can erase gains from a flash sale. - He argued that hyper-velocity e-commerce networks and high-consideration global supply chains require different operating models. - He said FOMO can work for businesses built for short-term trends, immediate consumption, and dense last-mile fulfillment. - He said FOMO is harmful for businesses that rely on intricate global logistics, specialized handling, provenance requirements, and extended product lifecycles. - He argued that fake urgency can damage the narrative of quality, exclusivity, and certainty that premium brands spend years building.

Between the lines: - The core message is operational, not just marketing-driven: demand generation cannot outrun fulfillment design. - The argument suggests live shopping works best when a brand’s infrastructure can absorb volatility without harming delivery performance or the customer experience. - For premium brands, the bigger danger is not missing a viral moment. It is creating a memorable disappointment that outlasts the campaign.

What's next: - Brands that want to use live shopping during major events will need to test whether their operations can handle a sudden surge without hurting service levels. - Castellanos Duque said resilient brands will focus on building transparent and dependable systems rather than manufacturing panic. - He framed the long-term goal as consistency: delivering as promised across high-traffic event days and ordinary days alike.

The bottom line: - In live shopping, virality can be expensive if the supply chain is not built for it. Castellanos Duque’s message is that certainty, not FOMO, is the real premium.