Live Commerce : Everything You Need To Know
- Karolina Masternak
- 21 lip
- 8 minut(y) czytania
E-commerce is evolving fast. With more and more options available, for both business owners and their customers, it’s getting hard to step up from the e-commerce crowd.
Thankfully, we’re here to help you get started on some very intriguinge-commerce trends. Today, we’ll present to you one of the trends that havebeen proven to bring much success: live commerce.
If you haven’t heard of live commerce yet, you’ve fallen quite behind in the industry. But don’t worry, I’ve got your back!
Let’s start with some background.
The live commerce phenomenon skyrocketed in China in 2016 when Chinese retail giant Alibaba launched its first live-stream shopping event with great success.
Video-based shopping in China is estimated to have generated $157.5billion in 2020, according to KPMG and AliResearch.
Now, it’s getting more and more popular in Europe, the USA, and Canada.Covid-19 heavily influenced e-commerce trends and lead to the fastdevelopment of live commerce.
According to eMarketer, the year-over-year increase in US eCommerce sales in 2020 reached 32%.
Based on Ryan Douglas’ expertise in “Embracing the path for livestreamingand eCommerce”, the expected revenue from global live stream shoppingsales is expected to reach $500B by 2023.
What is live commerce?
So, what live commerce actually is?To put things simply, live commerce is selling your products during the livestream. It’s quite similar to the gaming live streams on Twitch. It meansliterally showing off your products and their features while being on thecamera, in real-time.
Live commerce tech stack
Sometimes the technical aspects can be a bit tricky. That’s why I came up with a whole list of useful tools and platforms!
Live Commerce Tools
Basically, there are 3 types of live commerce tools:
1. E-commerce or Technology companies
Many huge companies have developed live commerce features in thelast few years. You might have heard of some of them:
Amazon Live is a live streaming service that allows sellers to promotetheir products by hosting their live streams for customers on Amazon.After downloading the Amazon Live Creator, you can create your own.
Facebook Shop allows you to sell products and interact with your viewers for free.
In Facebook Shop, e-commerce sellers can customize their live selling event by creating their own product playlist. What’s more, Facebook
Shops enables sellers to bring products to life with interactive live demos and allows people to buy directly from the live stream.
TikTok
No, TikTok isn’t just an app “for kids”.
TikTok has grown swiftly in the last six years and hit 1 billion subscribers in record time. Soon, TikTok developed a desire to tap into eCommerce. In fact, in 2021 TikTok became Shopify’s partner.
The checkout in TikTok Shopping takes place through Shopify — by clicking the product link in the TikTok video, the user is directed to the merchant’s website to make the purchase and complete the transaction.
It’s a great tool for advertising and live selling for small businessowners!
AliExpress Live
AliExpress, the Alibaba subsidiary, launched its own video service, which allows eCommerce sellers to sell their products through live stream, in 2017.
AliExpress Connect
AliExpress Connect is another platform launched by AliExpress. Its main goal is to connect influencers and AliExpress’s top sellers and brands. If you’re looking for an influencer to host your live stream, you can start here!
Shoploop was launched in July 2020 by Google. It’s a video shopping platform with short interactive videos that help people discover your products and buy them without having to leave the platform.
Some companies have their roots in Asia. To name a few:
Taobao Live
Taobao Live is a live streaming service in China, integrated into theTaobao App.
DuoDuo Livestreaming by Pinduoduo
Launched by Pinduoduo (China’s biggest interactive e-commercecompany), Duo Duo Live offers special support to its merchants andeducates them about live streaming.
Douyin
Douyin is the Chinese sibling of TikTok, made by the same company ByteDance. In comparison to TikTok, Douyin has become more advanced with its features like e-commerce, business advice, and videos from local authorities. In the Douyin app, users can buy products from live streaming which is a perfect opportunity for China-based e-commerce sellers!
LazLive by Lazada
Founded in 2012, Lazada Group is the leading eCommerce platform inSoutheast Asia. Since 2016, Lazada is a part of the Alibaba Group.
Even though more advanced live commerce features are being developed,many online stores simply use Facebook or Instagram lives to pitch theirproduct. It still works!
2. Applications
You can find many applications that enable e-store owners to run avideo commerce session on their websites. Here are some of my picks:
It’s a Stockholm-based software. The list of its partners includes Adidas, Clinique, Samsung, Tommy Hilfiger, and many more. It integrates with the most popular eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.
The German Start-Up LiSA .is a plug-and-play software for retailers and brands which enables live stream shopping.
According to their website, LiSA’s customers have achieved results of up to 35% conversion and 90% engagement in 2020. Among their partners, we’ll find Loreal, Avon, Charlotte Tilbury, Christ.
LiveScale is a company founded in Montreal in 2016. The company is a provider of Live Shopping solutions for brands like L’Oreal, Knix, and RB.
LiveScale is integrated with Shopify.
LiveBuy is an online retail platform, based in Berlin. It enablescustomers to experience products in an entertaining, informative, and interactive way. The platform uses its live shopping technology to help its clients launch, run, and easily build live shopping channels. Among their partners were (to name a few): Douglas, Tchibo, and KaDeWe.
Another live shopping platform. Some of their features include multiple on-screen participants, customer access on every platform (desktop, mobile sites, iOS, Android), real-time analytics, discounts and flash sales, and virtual try-on for customers.
Revo is integrated with Shopify.
3. Live Commerce Marketplaces
One of the most popular examples would be:
LiveMarket
LiveMarket is a SaaS-enabled Marketplace for live commerce,based in Poland. With LiveMarket you don’t have to be tech-savvy or have your own tech team! All you need to do is simply upload the product images and descriptions, and define promotion in an easy-to-use, intuitive interface.
LiveCommerce Entertainment
LiveCommerce Entertainment is a company based in Singapore. Founded in 2021, LiveCommerce is a marketplace platform connecting brands and live streamers to empower Live shopping in Asia.
Live Commerce by Visionet
Live Commerce by Visionet enables e-commerce businesses to implement live streaming shopping on their existing e-commerce platforms to increase conversions. It’s an interactive live streaming marketplace where e-commerce sellers can create their shopping channels and host live streaming events to sell directly to their audience.
ShopShops
ShopsShops is a global app enabling e-commerce sellers to grow a following based on their ability to curate and sell products. ShopsShops have hosted over 1,000 partners, including such brands as Marni, Chloé, Pinko, Jimmy Choo, and Rag and Bone.
Live commerce best practices for online store owners
We get that live commerce may look complicated at first. This is why I prepared some tips&tricks to get you started on your live selling journey!
The benefits of live selling
Increased Website Traffic
During the livestream, you provide the link to your website that people canclick on when they get interested in buying your product
Real-time results
Live selling gives an opportunity to present your products to your audienceand persuade your customers to buy them during the live stream.
It’s affordable
There are plenty of free tools you can use for live video shopping. There’soften a tiny catch, though many of them entail spam-filled pop-up ads thatwill show up during your live stream.
On the contrary, paid streaming tools can are relatively cheap and there’ll be no annoying ads!
Analyze your budget. Remember: there’s nothing wrong with starting withfree tools!
Better Relationships
Live streaming adds a human touch to your business. As a result, yourbusiness looks more reliable to your potential customers.
Increased brand awareness
Regular video selling sessions make people remember your brand and yourproducts, and make you look more reliable!
Shortened Customer Journey
Thanks to live streaming shopping, the complicated customers’decision-making process is skipped, so they can go straight to your websiteand buy your products.
Client conversion ratio
Customers love video — it engages them and makes them remember you &your products. People buy what they remember!
Customer engagement
If you want to improve customer engagement, Livestream selling is one ofthe best ways to do so. What’s more, you can invite people to help you out or to attract more audience. Think about industry professionals or influencers. They can attract their audiences to the live stream!
Now, let’s take a look at the types of videos for live selling.
6 most popular main types of live-streaming:
1. Live Q&A sessions
This is one of the best options for people who never had anyexperience with live selling.
A quick tip: if you don’t have an audience yet, you can prepare somequestions in advance to answer during the Q&A session.
Make sure you know what your live Q&A session will be about,though. You can make a livestream about:
- holiday gifts ideas
- industry insights
- your business’ mission
- yourself (as a business owner!)
Make sure you know the goal of the live stream: it has to beinteresting, engaging, and helpful in order for people to want toparticipate in it!
2. Omnichannel live-streaming
Make good use of all your channels.
When hosting a live stream:
● stream the live video on your YouTube channel
● stream on your website
● stream on your social media
● post about it on Twitter
● invite people to your live stream on Facebook and Instagram through stories or a post
For streaming on multiple platforms, you can try out a platform likeOmnisend or ReStream.
3. One-to-one live video shopping (video calls)
You don’t have to invest your time and money in big productions rightfrom the start!
One-to-one video calls are a great way to create a connectionbetween you and your potential customers.For this purpose, we recommend Google Duo (it’s free and works onmultiple devices).
4. Influencer marketing/streaming
This can be quite expensive, but if you struggle with gathering anaudience for your live stream, consider hiring an influencer. They will bring in their own audience and make your business seem morecredible!
5. Active Live Chat Discussions
This step is crucial when it comes to live selling. Make sure you’repaying attention to the live chat during your live stream to quicklyaddress any troubles or to answer questions that pop up during the event. You can use a platform with pre-build live chat or look for othersoftware providers like LiveChat.
Some tips for optimizing your live streams:
Make a plan
Planning makes everything easier — the same goes for live streams. Whenyou plan them out, you can focus on making them more interesting andengaging to the viewers!
Check your Internet connection
There’s nothing worse than having to stop the live stream because of a lowinternet connection!
Run a test
Test your equipment (microphone, camera, etc.) before you go live. Thisway, you can address any troubles before actually starting the live stream.
Always have a backup
Always have a backup of every tool you need for streaming: a computer,microphone, or even lamp.
Record your live stream
You can share the recorded video afterward so people who missed your livestream can watch it. It’s also a great chance to make people want toparticipate in the next one!
Interact with your viewers
This is one of the most important aspects of video live selling. Once yougather an audience, make them interested in what you’re presenting tothem. Answer their questions, make a poll, joke a little bit… Anything thatwill engage them!
Be consistent
Consistency is key. You don’t have to make a live stream every two days, butmake sure you have a schedule that people can follow.
Live commerce: wrap-up
Although live commerce is still fairly new to the market, there are a ton ofopportunities hidden in it. No matter if you’re a small business owner or an owner of a multi-million business, you can still gain a ton of new customers and increase your sales with live-streaming shopping.
Choose the tool that you feel comfortable with, create a strategy, test your tools, have a backup for everything, and actively engage with your audience during the live stream.
Good luck!
Komentarze