With the high competition and new digital norms, more and more brands are looking for solutions to impress, engage and, as the result, be remembered by a big audience. That’s where recently much-talked-of livestream shopping goes public.
What is livestream shopping?
The concept of live commerce is coming from the late 1970s in the era of Shopping TV Channels. The main difference caused by technological advancement is that currently, streaming takes place on smartphones and laptops, rather than television, targeting the younger generations.
Today’s Livestream shopping, also known as live shopping or live commerce, is a relatively new marketing strategy for promoting and selling goods via live video streams. This marketing technique originates from China, where it promptly won the market, having reached an estimated $171 billion in 2020 and intending to reach $423 billion in sales by the end of 2022 according to McKinsey.
Even though in the US live commerce is only taking shape, having reached $11 billion in sales in 2021, and aiming to $35 billion by 2024 according to Coresight Research, the Chinese market’s outcome shows that it’s a good solution to strengthen your brand and increase your sales.
Such promising numbers attracted major social media and e-commerce platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, and Google, making them join the live shopping side. Starting in 2020 Shopify Plus also launched live video integration within their stores.
How livestream shopping can help your E-commerce business?
Combining shopping with entertainment helps you reveal unlimited opportunities in the e-commerce industry.
McKinsey offers the following list of leading categories in livestream shopping:
Live shopping is a tool to drive your sales, build brand awareness and attract new consumers, delivering an exceptional digitalised customer experience.
Let’s take a look at the three main benefits you will get with live shopping.
- Increase your sales
It’s not a secret that the primary goal to dive into live shopping is to boost conversions. By creating a thought-out marketing campaign, you are one step closer to being all sold out in minutes.
For example, a popular Chinese influence Li Jiaqi managed to sell 15.000 lipsticks in five minutes. He tried each lipstick during the live streaming to show the audience how each colour looks on the lips.
- Build brand awareness
When you’re just starting with live commerce events, you should understand that not all customers might want to buy your product immediately. It takes time until they know your brand and understand its benefits. Here is where live shopping gives you an opportunity to show your brand value, get customers involved in your products and build their trust. Think of what imagery of the brand you want to convey and who is the right person to represent it.
- Best of the two worlds
Live shopping gives you the power to combine the best experiences from both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores. While most customers got used to online shopping, for some, offline is still a kind of entertainment. They visit stores not always for shopping but the experience. By delivering convenience from online shopping in pair with that special atmosphere from the offline store, you have a big chance to be noticed.
How to succeed with your first live shopping event?
To meet your expectations, you should make an effort to create a buzz around the upcoming live event and what’s more important – attract as many people as possible.
Here are a few aspects you should consider.
Streaming platform
Think of the platform you want to stream the live shopping event on. It might be social media which works great if you have good social network visibility, or an E-commerce platform such as Shopify, Google shopping, or Amazon.
By the way, Shopify provides merchants with various solutions such as integration with TikTok that might be a great fit for your streaming or the latest integration with YouTube that enormously widens merchants’ possibilities.
“Between January 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021, the number of Shopify merchants installing apps for live shopping grew by 61% globally, compared to the same time in 2020” – Shopify
You can also install live streaming on your website to deliver a more customisable and individual approach.
The main point is to choose the option which will be convenient for both you and your customers. Thus, if you have a Shopify store, it’s easier to start live-streaming from there and provide a product link to your audience. What’s more, expecting higher sales, you should be ready to process each order fast and precisely. For that, you can use Zapiet Store pick up and Local Delivery app to avoid confusion with deliveries.
Host
As we mentioned before, all successful live shopping events help you build brand awareness and trust. To do so, you should consider who is the person to represent your brand. It might be a brand collaboration or a popular market influencer who can bring a bigger audience to the live streaming, or a C-level employee of the company who can tell about the brand from the inside. Make your decision based on the primary goals you are setting.
Can't-Miss offer
One of the good ways to raise customers’ interest is to create a unique offer that will make them peep into your live-streaming to try it out. You can announce a giveaway, give prominent discounts, or offer a free trial which works great for digital products.
Don’t forget about the fun part
Remember that your audience came to your live shopping event for a new experience and entertainment. They’ve chosen you, which is big, taking into account the overall competition. Your aim is to prove they’ve made the right choice by providing value and fun all together.
Livestream shopping is a good strategy with a key concept of promoting your products and increasing brand awareness via live video events. By launching regular live streams, you can boost sales, drive engagement and acquire a loyal audience. To make it work, you should put some effort into preparing high-end events. Choose the most convenient platform to stream the show, find the right person to represent your brand, stand out with the unique offer and deliver valuable, yet entertaining content. By launching live shopping events with customers in mind, you can make it a successful and leading sales channel for your business.
