Live Shopping (LS) has experienced tremendous growth in several markets during 2020 and 2021, in trend with most of ecommerce. Now, with people ready to go back to their pre-pandemic lifestyles, Live Shopping is primed to take its place as the next big thing in the online shopping space.
As a relatively recent technology, the changes experienced by the Live Shopping solutions are faster and, in many cases, more drastic than those observed in other areas, so it’s important to keep tabs on what the industry is doing with the capabilities that LS offers.
VTEX –along with Amazon Web Services, one of its most trustworthy partners– is the company responsible for helping bring Live Shopping to most of Latin America. As such, it’s in a unique position to provide insights on this topic, so here they are: the top 3 trends in Live Shopping according to our experts.
Less is more
One of the most attractive elements regarding LS is that a transmission doesn’t necessarily require a big production value to attract customers and bring them value. Despite this, most companies seem to have opted for hiring influencers and filming in studios. This could be about to change.
“The production cost barrier has been broken, because what people really want to see is more constant content. Brands have started to stream from their stores or warehouses, with their own sellers, establishing a direct channel with users, and pushing them to stay longer on their sites.”
Manuel García, Head of Live Shopping for Latin America at VTEX
This is not a totally new trend, and we’ve talked about some success cases in the past. According to García, the adoption of this model will be even faster in the near future, and it will especially be embraced by companies who offer products such as tools and appliances, which benefit more from a tutorial than an endorsement.
“For some products, brand experts are better than influencers, and they have a bigger impact on the purchasing decision. If a football player shows you how to use a drill it might not have the same impact as if they show you their cleats. The definition of the event dynamic should serve the customer’s decision process.”
Manuel García, Head of Live Shopping for Latin America at VTEX
García says companies still gravitate towards a big event for their campaign launch, but they are quickly realizing that they are dealing with an intuitive platform that doesn’t require that much equipment and that the brand’s own pull might be enough to get a sizable audience without involving influencer marketing. This, in turn, makes it easier for brands to set up events in a consistent and constant manner, which could help form a habit with their followers.
“If you know you have a good following on Thursday nights, you will be motivated to bring weekly content, which will improve session times and the chances of making a sale.”
Manuel García, Head of Live Shopping for Latin America at VTEX
Better customer insights
We’ve talked before about how a LS event drives up page views and average session times, but it’s also important to highlight the fact that it improves engagement in the form of chat messages, which can help brands better target campaigns for certain products.
“Live Shopping is not only a sales tool: it’s transforming into a lead generator. If you enter your email into the chat and ask questions about a smartwatch, the company is able to know exactly what product you’re currently interested in, and it can adjust their marketing strategy accordingly.”
Manuel García, Head of Live Shopping for Latin America at VTEX
This happens in an organic way, where users don’t have to answer a poll or do anything out of their usual research process in order to provide valuable information for the company. It’s a valuable collateral tool that is getting more traction amongst early LS adopters, since it produces qualitative data.
Customers, on the other hand, tend to participate more during an LS stream, since they enjoy having their questions acknowledged and answered by the experts chosen by the brand. Talk about a win-win situation.
The Metaverse and Beyond
Some brands are already trying to future-proof this fairly recent trend, mixing it with overall technology trends such as the metaverse and NFTs. Through these experiences, customers are even more motivated to interact with LS, given the promise of giveaways involving NFTs or digital assets to enhance their avatars.
Atari has been one of the first to experiment with this mix, but their offer is not linked to a physical product. Regardless, other brands, especially in consumer electronics have already produced other events.
For Live Shopping, that’s the perk of being the hot new thing: everyone wants to get involved and everyone wants to find new and better ways to take advantage of the growing interest. So keep an eye on this technology’s evolution, since it could be a big part of your shopping journey sooner than you think.
