The infomercial 2.0 or live e-commerce, is how some define the sales strategy that has been sweeping Asia for years and is making a name for itself in the West. This is Live Shopping, a feature that allows you to buy products while watching a live stream through social networks or specific digital platforms.
It is estimated that this year it will generate 480 billion dollars in China and 11 billion in the United States. And, most importantly, all the big companies like YouTube, Meta, TikTok or Amazon have their teams developing this option or testing it to launch it worldwide.
But, what exactly does the live shop online format consist of? Below we tell you what Live Shopping is, its advantages, how it works, and some success stories.
What is Live Shopping?
Live Shopping is a show that follows the rules of television infomercials but with the big difference that it is live and the public can interact not only by leaving questions and requests in the chat but also by buying the product that is being shown, with a single click, without leaving the live stream.
In addition, one of the main hooks of live shop online is that they are usually led by professional influencers, or micro influencers, who bring freshness to the format, turning the streaming into an entertainment product, fun and close, as digital generations seek.
And to this is added that the influencer never comes alone, always drags with him his most loyal followers, multiplying the potential reach for the brand that organizes the live stream.
Advantages of Live Shopping
Whether you are the marketing manager of a company or the owner of an e-commerce, including Live Shopping in your marketing strategy can bring you many beneficial advantages, among which are:
You Need to Make a Smaller Investment
At the level of companies and brands, it is obvious that Live Shopping is an attractive strategy, since, with minimal costs, it allows them to sell their products directly to the consumer, in a very fast way and shortening the sales funnel. In real time, while the live stream is being broadcast, you can know how many products you are selling, what is most worrying your potential buyers, what they like the most, what they have doubts about and resolve them at the moment, avoiding losing a sale. Therefore, in half an hour of live stream we have saved ourselves from having to do market research.
Increases the Conversion Rate
As the presenter of the Live Shopping resolves the doubts of the viewers at the moment and how they can buy comfortably and quickly if they have been convinced by their explanation; it is estimated that the conversion rate during these live contents can be between 15% and 30% and that its return rate is reduced by up to 50%. These are figures from I-Lish, a Live Shopping technology platform with which we at 2btube have partnered to promote this strategy in Spain.
In addition, the viewers of the livestreams are usually followers or fans of the people who retransmit, usually influencers or people with great digital presence, so there is a base of trust that makes them trust them and the products they promote.
Dynamic and Interactive Campaigns
Consumers, for their part, find in the live shop online an entertainment experience, since it is a real live show, which can become a very pleasant shopping experience, intuitive, simple and with a single click, without moving from the sofa.
Online shopping has skyrocketed since the pandemic and this type of shopping can be very attractive because it saves the user a lot of time and effort. To go further and take that extra step, you can integrate branded content or UGC strategies into your live shopping strategy.
Hence the emergence of a new term to define this type of content: entretainmerce or Shoppertainment (entertainment + ecommerce) which, according to the study “The potentials of live streaming ecommerce” by AliExpress and Forrester Consulting, interests 78% of Spanish consumers.
Who Dominates the Live Shopping Sector?
Douyin (China’s TikTok) and Taobao (owned by the Alibaba group) are the benchmarks in the sector, and have influencers on their platforms who are true stars of this digital infomercial. They sell everything from food (which they cook and taste live) to makeup, clothing, technology and even cars! And there are dates where sales through Live Stream Shopping skyrocket, such as “Singles’ Day” where Alibaba’s sales reached 85 billion dollars.
In the West, Amazon has been the first company to launch this format. On its page Amazon Live they are offering US creators a juicy commission for doing live streams to explain and sell products. According to CNBC, the company will offer them about 10% of what is generated in sales in these streams in the case of beauty or luxury products, while it will reach 20% in the case of video games.
However, TikTok is hot on its heels because TikTok Shop is expected to arrive in Spain soon, dispelling rumors that in Europe it would only be launched in the United Kingdom
The Keys to Live Shopping
As we have mentioned, this strategy is based on a combination of 3 factors:
- A digital platform from which to broadcast live and through which you can buy the products that are being shown in the live stream.
- A presenter who stars in the show. In this sense, to be successful, the ideal is to have influencers or youtubers who already have thousands of subscribers among the target you want to reach. In addition, digital creators are very used to interacting directly with their audience and their opinions are highly valued by their community.
- A hook. Having special discounts or exclusive products that can only be purchased in that live stream creates a need in the viewer that can motivate an impulsive purchase.
Tips to Improve your Live Shopping Strategy:
In addition, from 2btube we recommend the following practices that will help you boost your live shopping experiences:
- Betting on a professional video production; not only at the level of image and realization but also with a control and management of the comments.
- Monitor statistics in real time, see what part of the live stream is the one that motivates users to buy, what products are the most demanded, what products generate more doubts, etc.
- Have the right partners, with experience in making entertainment live streams, in managing influencer marketing campaigns and with the necessary technology to make the sale of your products live. And a streaming has to be perfect in real time, so you can’t risk something failing.
- Entertainment has to be a priority, it can’t be an infomercial as seen on television, but it has to be a fun, close show, with interaction with the audience and where the feedback of the viewers prevails.
Here is a video that explains everything you need to know about Live Shopping:
Examples of Live Shoppings that Have been Successful
Years ago at 2btube we did our first Live Shopping. It was to promote the LG UltraGear monitor for sale at MediaMarkt and it was a live stream on Twitch with 4 influencers who competed in sports tests related to the characteristics of the product and in which viewers could opt for a discount on the purchase of the monitor.
The live stream itself was a quality and entertaining content for the followers of those influencers; and the product, an element that served as a common thread for the action.
Many other companies have already been able to test the benefits of implementing Live Shopping in their marketing strategy, some of the most outstanding examples are:
Aliexpress
In November 2023 Aliexpress held the Live Shopping event: The Infinite Unboxing. This stream was broadcast from the center of Madrid and was active for two days, with blocks of six uninterrupted hours of content in which the beatboxer Grison and six more influencers presented products, performed games and raffles, and interacted with the audience.
Printemps
The large French department stores Printemps have also been doing Live Shopping sessions for some time as a regular part of their sales and marketing strategies. Through their live streams, which they carry out on their official website, on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, they sell their beauty products, clothing and other accessories.
Tommy Hilfiger
The famous clothing brand took advantage of the confinements of the past pandemic to test Live Shopping in August 2020, and the results were impressive. In just a couple of minutes of livestream they sold 1,300 items, but they were also able to reach the figure of 14 million viewers.
In short, Live Stream Shopping is not a future strategy, but a reality that Spanish brands can already take advantage of. It is only necessary to define a strategy that guarantees success, work with the right partners so that the production of the live stream is professional and have influencers who bring the public to whom we want to sell our products.
These are just the pillars that we always defend at 2btube every time we carry out a digital campaign. Contact us if you want us to design a Live Shopping strategy for your brand and start exploring this strategy.