Live Shopping: The future of eCommerce
Live stream shopping is everywhere. Every industry be it beauty, cosmetics, food, consumer electronics, or fashion, etc is leveraging the trend to drive sales and communicate with customers in an unfiltered manner. Live Video Shopping is something shoppers increasingly look to for their entertainment fix.
The concept of live shopping is not new, it started in the mid-1980s, with the launch of television shopping networks such as HSN and QVC. These channels enabled shoppers to shop while products were being advertised in real-time. Nearly after 40 years, live stream shopping has taken a new digital role for businesses.
According to a report, 560 million people were watching live shopping shows in China in the year 2020, an increase of 126 million compared to the summer of 2019. This resulted in China’s Live ecommerce market accounting for $170 billion in 2020. Furthermore, it’s not just the Asian markets exploiting this new e-commerce trend several US tech companies are jumping on this live shopping ring. And as per reports, Livestream e-commerce is expected to reach $25 billion in sales in the U.S. by 2023. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping the retail spaces shut and traditional online shopping becoming boring, live video shopping has taken center stage in keeping our desire for commodities alive. This trend is continuing to make the retail accessible, fun, and interactive process and buyers are becoming more aligned with the notion that this can be the new way to shop online.
Live shopping enhances retail with live interactive shows or events. This combines the personal help of in-store shopping experiences with online convenience, therefore, leading to an experience that is seamless and improved.
Live shopping offers several ways to make the whole live shopping session more interactive and engaging. With live video shopping, buyers can interact and comment. This enables customers to learn more about products or services and purchase directly during a live shopping show.
Advantages of Live Online Shopping
- Live video shopping turns down the overhead costs as products are being sold to customers directly from a warehouse during a live show instead of being shipped from various locations.
- Live streaming shopping enables hosts to efficiently demonstrate features, discuss how products can be leveraged, what are the benefits, and answer customer pain points. A host that can be a celebrity, brand ambassador, brand employee, KOL, or an influencer can interact directly with audiences, helping to increase customer value for sellers.
- Live commerce facilitates real-time engagement shopping that successfully shapes the online shopping process and influences customers’ buying decisions. Conducting a live shopping show lets buyers discover new products and develop trust in the quality of the products they are interested in. This drives consumption.
- Live online shopping is much more engaging as it makes the audience feel like they are part of more intimate discussions with brands. This unedited and raw nature livestream e-commerce can help your viewers feel the in-person shopping experience that is missing in traditional online shopping.
- Live shopping is an impactful way to foster influencer collaborations. The influencers or celebrities create brand loyalty as buyers tend to connect more and more with the individual selling products. As a result of such collaborations, consumers stay loyal to their brands and develop a bond.
How to make most of your live shopping shows
Build Up Excitement
Generating buzz before a live shopping show is an effective way to ensure audiences for your live show. Post teaser videos to reveal the launch of a new product or product line. Also running a live show countdown can also help to build excitement.
Collaborations
Getting influencers to your show can play a vital role in live commerce. Get as strategic with collaborations so that you can use the influence and following of public figures and brands. Choose an influencer that your brands align to and has a similar target audience and brand values with you.
Host Giveaways and live contests
Hosting exclusive giveaways and live contests is one way to get customers to join your live shopping show. This will get people involved and excited to participate in your live shopping show.
Engage the Audience
What makes live shopping so unique is its ability to foster engagement. Keeping customers engaged in your live shopping show keeps your viewership up and leads to more meaningful connections.
Leveraging a live video shopping platform that supports a chat feature is an impactful way to get audiences involved.
Conclusion
Traditional online shopping today has become boring. Pictures and product descriptions sometimes don’t truly depict the quality of products. Hence shoppers crave in-person shopping. With Livestream e-commerce, sellers or influencers demonstrate or showcase their products in real-time shoppers get a better idea of what the products are like.
One can leverage live online shopping via an online marketplace or through your independent platforms. One such platform is the live stream shopping app by Channelize.io available on Shopify. With Channelize.io live shopping platform you can offer your customers an experience that is designed to mimic the experience of shopping in a store.
Email us at info@channelize.io and get in touch with us.
