29/07/2020 – Milan. VTEX, recognized by IDC as the fastest-growing global commerce platform, and FIRA, an app which enables retailers to live stream their products on video, are delighted to announce their global partnership. Their alliance aims to introduce the strategy of “shoppertainment”, a new solution retailers can use to engage with their customers in this new age of limited physical interaction.
Pioneered by Alibaba’s Taobao Live back in 2016, live-streaming ecommerce has taken the Chinese retail industry by storm, with 504 million participants in 2019 alone. This figure is expected to increase to 526 million in 2020, with COVID-19 forcing shoppers indoors and leaving retailers dependent on digital. The associated revenue figure is also expected to double to USD136 billion, putting pressure on merchants to adapt quickly or lose the momentum.
The growth of the industry is no surprise, as there is high demand for a “human” touch to be imprinted on the alienating online sales process. Enabling the online shopping experience to become more socially interactive could create engagement among traditional brick-and-mortar customers that miss the friendly face and advice of a shopping assistant. Moreover, live-streaming serves the purpose of building trust, both in products and brands. With live demonstrations, reviews and Q&As, a new way to drive sales is in reach – and VTEX and FIRA are committed to perfect it together.
With features such as add-to-cart without leaving streaming, live chat and emoji reactions, FIRA seamlessly combines entertainment with shopping. Its solution reflects the visual identity of a brand and adheres to high standards of speed performance, hence being a prime marketing tool for all VTEX clients.
“On behalf of FIRA, we are delighted with this partnership as it will allow our customers and stakeholders to offer a better service and expand their market share in a context where speed and service are essential. Furthermore, VTEX is the main platform used in Latin America, so it gives us a competitive advantage and future barriers to potential competitors that may appear in the markets that we are already operating in”, says Javier Molina, FIRA Co-Founder.
Mariano Gomide de Faria, VTEX Co-CEO, adds: “We are excited to innovate our clients’ ecommerce offering with the help of FIRA. Through this partnership, we continue our commitment to being bold: VTEX is betting on a solution that will undoubtedly become a mandatory part of a retailer’s arsenal in the years to come. The future of merchandising will partly reside at the intersection of social connectivity, video interaction and in-depth reviews, which highlights FIRA as a great addition to an ecosystem that is continuously evolving in sync with the times.”
VTEX is a multinational tech company that provides a global, fully integrated, end-to-end commerce solution with native marketplace and OMS capabilities. We help enterprises in retail, manufacturing, wholesale, grocery, consumer packaged goods and other verticals to sell more, operate more efficiently, scale seamlessly and deliver remarkable customer experience. Our modern APIs architecture and our powerful business and developer tools allow VTEX to future-proof our customers’ businesses and free them from software updates. Major brands including Whirlpool, Sony, Carrefour, Adidas, Stanley Black & Decker, AB InBev, Nestlé and Coca-Cola Andina, plus 2,500 active online stores across 32 countries, trust VTEX to accelerate and transform their commerce. Visit www.vtex.com to learn more.
FIRA is a company belonging to GoToDigital The Learning Company. GoToDigital The Learning Company is a Computational Design Agency specialized in solving business problems and innovation challenges by creating digital assets from the use of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and IoT. Currently the company has offices in Europe and Latin America with a presence in several countries where it carries out projects for multinationals in the retail, utilities and entertainment sectors, among others. More information on www.fira-live.com.
VTEX: Tommaso Trevisan – tommaso.trevisan@vtex.com – 0039 3519532699
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