Live Stream Shopping: What is it, and Which Industries are Leveraging this Platform?
Nowadays, it has become possible for brands to launch and showcase their products to millions of customers from different parts of the world. Many celebrities who advertise these products in different countries now don’t even have to travel. All they have to do is sit comfortably at home and hold their event.
For instance, many Hollywood celebrities that launch their cosmetics line in different countries don’t necessarily travel there. All they do is put on some nice clothes, place their iPhones in front of them where there are live viewers, and boom; products are sold out in minutes.
For the readers of this blog, if you are confused about why your friends always ditch you when you are interested in going for a product launch at a fancy store, let me introduce you to live stream shopping.
This is how far marketing has come, which is all due to digitization. Brands can showcase their products, 360-degrees, on a digital platform, to a live audience and communicate with them simultaneously.
You can buy products directly from a live video stream. It is called Live stream shopping, and if you are already involved in this kind of purchasing, you are in for an exhilarating ride.
Live stream shopping or Live stream ecommerce combines live video content with two-way communication between buyers and sellers. It allows the opportunity for viewers to buy or save advertised goods without leaving their houses.
With live-stream shopping, brands provide a phygital shopping experience to their customers. There is reduced consideration time, more involvement of the customer, higher sales, etc., which are mainly a few advantages of Livestream shopping for businesses. In addition, customers get to view the product live through their devices and make purchases simultaneously for their convenience.
Read More: How phygital customer experience is breaking the barriers between brands and customers?
Which Industries are Leveraging Live Stream Shopping?
Not a single soul would have predicted how important online shopping, precisely live streaming, would become since this last year of the pandemic. Many brands, both the big and small ones, started getting affected. They started figuring out ways to interact with their customers, existing and newcomers. Soon, they realized that live streaming was the answer.
Some brands are already utilizing this platform since before the pandemic hit, while some have recently started utilizing it. Let’s take a look at a few industries that are using this platform and greatly benefiting from it.
Retail Sector
The retail industry has already been using this platform for a very long time for its growth. The fashion and beauty businesses were among the first to embrace Live stream shopping to get an effective phygital customer experience. They get to view the products live and in 360-degrees. They can also have two-way communication with the representatives and immediately make their purchases.
Live stream shopping can lower barriers between the brand and at-home customers in ways other commerce experiences can’t. In addition, at-home consumers can benefit from virtual try-on sessions and live demos, making it easy to purchase.
From Amazon to Gucci, many retailers and brands provide phygital customer experiences through new streaming formats to offer an expanding range of beauty items, clothes, gadgets, etc. In addition, their live events are held on social media channels and the businesses’ websites.
Offering a live product demo to consumers can be frequently instructive, amusing, and enlightening. These product demos assist customers in visualizing items, comprehending selling characteristics, and ask questions in real-time. But, most significantly, customers can make purchases while watching the live feed.
Revenues from e-retail are expected to reach around 5.4 trillion USD by 2022 as online shopping has become one of the most famous online activities worldwide. (Source)
Automobile Sector
The automobile sector is a new entrant into live stream shopping considering the high price of automobiles. Typically consumers buy cars by visiting a brick and mortar showroom where they test drive the vehicle of their choice.
However, by leveraging phygital retailing and live stream shopping, the brands can communicate with consumers on a real-time basis, giving them a 360-degree view and answer their queries so that consumers take less time to buy and the sale is closed.
Sports Industry
The growing demand for online sports events is driving this market on an unprecedented scale across the world. With improvements in broadband speed at a cheaper cost, the availability of smartphones and telecasting of sports events on a digital platform has transformed this industry.
Now viewers can watch events on their TV sets, mobile phones, or laptops. In addition, the direct telecast of events by leagues and sports clubs through digital media has transformed the market. It has offered options for the viewers to view such events across any internet-enabled smart device.
Consumer Goods Sector
We live in a world where shopping can be done with just a click from the comforts of our home. The pandemic has reinforced online buying due to social distancing, and now the percentage of online buyers is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Now, the buying pattern of consumers has also changed for healthier products and immunity boosters.
It is the best opportunity for brands to communicate with consumers through social media, where the audience is also encouraged to participate. As a result, it promotes greater customer engagement and improves brand awareness.
Consumer Durables Sector
FMCD products having a longer shelf life including white goods, automobiles, and a host of household goods. The pandemic has offered brands an opportunity to leverage the digital platform with AR and VR-enabled, 360-degree views of products, giving the consumers a near physical feel before buying.
Live stream shopping can also be deployed on a brand's platform or a 3rd party platform where a live demo of products is done on a real-time basis. It allows consumers to be a part of a live demo. They can interact with the presenter regarding product features or their correct usage and put the selected product in the shopping cart for future buying.
Read More: Diving into the future of Phygital: Physical + Digital
Takeaways
The pandemic has changed our lifestyle and the rules of business. Live stream shopping is an effective marketing strategy for boosting brands’ bottom line of revenue generation. It offers product demos on a real-time scale with the active participation of consumers.
Besides, it also enables brands to get valuable data depending on interaction with consumers to fine-tune their strategy. As a result, it increases the possibilities of closing sales and maximizing revenue.