Live Stream Shopping becoming a Mainstream Trend

Live video shopping or livestream ecommerce is a form of online shopping where shoppers can shop during live video streaming of live shopping shows. In its previous avatar, it was called teleshopping, where hundreds of products were advertised on television. 

But in the digital era, live commerce or live online shopping has become a mainstream trend and is much more engaging, entertaining and interactive as compared to teleshopping. Live video shopping took off in China and soon grabbed attention worldwide. Live shopping in the USA is still in its nascent stage, and has the potential to be the next big thing in the ecommerce space.

According to a report in 2020 China’s live shopping volume exceeded 1 trillion Yuan which is almost $158 billion, with a more than 200% increase as compared to 2019. 

With live commerce, interactive options are enhanced. With live interactive video streaming, customers can interact and chat live. There are links that allow customers to learn more and purchase directly during a live shopping show. Direct channels of purchase, enabling live chat, reactions, emojis and and more are some of the interactive options offered to buyers. The live video shopping experience is designed to mimic the experience of shopping in a store.

The majority of their consumers who prefer livestream shopping are millennials and Gen Z consumers who are looking at personalized and authentic ways to shop online. Millennials and Gen Z prefer live stream shopping because:

Hosting live shopping shows to sell products is a great way to connect with your buyers in real-time. If a host is showcasing a product on a live video, with all the details, this gives customers the opportunity to comment live and ask questions for a feature or any instruction. This creates a great buying intent and trust among customers and customers are more likely to buy the product quickly.

Furthermore, when buyers watch influencers try out products which they can buy directly through the video app, this gives them the confidence to buy products straight away. Engagement and interactivity with buyers is the ultimate key to success when it comes to live stream commerce. Live streaming shopping provides real-time, accessible interaction to fulfill that need. Through live video shopping, brands have the opportunity to present their products, answer viewers’ questions, reassure them about the quality and reliability and provide offers for boosting purchases while buyers enjoy the remote brand experience. 

Live Video Shopping boosts customer engagement and retention rates. According to reports, live video shopping gets over 10% more interactions than pre-recorded videos, with around 25% of all engagement being comments.

But, how to keep your viewers engaged during a live shopping show?

Here are some ways to keep your audience engaged and create the most enjoyable and valuable live stream shopping experience.

Host Interviews

It’s very vital for a brand to show the human side of your brand by hosting interviews with the brand employees or the CEO. This allows the audiences to know your brand inside and out.

Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look

Showcasing behind the scenes content makes audiences feel like they are seeing something that is raw and authentic. Showcasing your manufacturing plant, company culture or your team builds confidence and trust among your audiences.

Host Q&A Sessions

This is a great way to allow your audiences to get to know your brand better, but it’s important to have a topic in mind before hosting a livestream shopping show. Choosing a pre -selected topic for the Q&A is always a better and less risky way to increase engagement. It helps keep the session focused, allowing you to filter questions and select the most relevant ones to answer.

Collaborate with others

Expanding your brand reach is a lot simpler when you are collaborating with others rather than doing it alone. Inviting industry experts or influencers belonging to the same niche to your live shopping shows can be fruitful for the success of your live shopping show. This way not only will you be gaining viewership and engagement from your audience but theirs as well.

You can also connect with influencers and invite them over for a live Q&A or a panel discussion. A big industry name attached to your live shopping show is bound to generate a lot of interest. Of course, for some niches, finding industry experts and influencers isn’t easy. An easy way to do so is by visiting the websites of competitors and look at who they are following.

Run Live Content

By running contests via your live shopping shows you can increase your brand engagement and awareness in a unique way. By creating a contest, you offer massive brand awareness through what you have to offer the contest winners. You can either choose to run the entire contest on live sessions or just announce the winner of a contest via live videos. Your live shopping show  not only attracts the views of everyone who enrolled in the contest, but you will also get views from other users when the content is shared via the Internet. This is a great way to expand the audience base of your brand.

Channelize.io Live Streaming Shopping Platform can help you multiply your revenue while boosting the customer engagement and retention rate. Email us at info@channelize.io and get started quickly.