What Is Live Shopping and How Can You Use It to Increase Conversions?
Live shopping is one of the latest trends to take off in the world of fashion e-commerce. It presents a unique opportunity for brands to engage and interact with their customers who are shopping online. This is especially valuable for luxury brands, whose customers demand elevated shopping experiences and carry out product research before making a purchase.
Livestream shopping saw its first explosive growth in China, with the live-commerce market growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 280% in just three years. This latest form of e-commerce is now rapidly becoming popular in the US and UK too, with more than a third of shoppers in the US having heard of livestream shopping events and 20% having participated in them.
It’s a critical market for luxury brands to tap into, with apparel and fashion taking by far the largest share of the live-commerce sector at 35.6%, followed by beauty in second place.
As with most new and innovative marketing channels, brands must get clued up on live shopping, understanding exactly what it is, the benefits it brings, and how to use it to drive sales.
In this article, we cover all of the above, sharing exclusive tips on how to integrate livestream shopping into your brand’s strategy.
What Is Live Shopping?
Live shopping is a livestream that’s hosted by a brand—or potentially an influencer or celebrity—to showcase products to an audience. It’s usually hosted on social media platforms or a brand's website.
It’s not dissimilar to home shopping networks like QVC, except it has a fresh, interactive twist. The host displays the products, highlighting the various features or benefits to viewers. The viewers can make purchases directly within the livestream, while also engaging in real-time conversations with the host and other viewers. This enables them to ask questions they may have about the products and receive immediate feedback from either the host or other viewers. This helps to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping, giving a more social and community feel to the otherwise solitary experience of shopping online.
Livestream shopping also allows viewers to see products in action, creating a more humanized and personal feel to the e-commerce experience that you might not usually get when browsing through product photos and information online.
Live shopping is more accessible than ever, with numerous platforms offering this interactive experience. TikTok and YouTube are some of the most prominent social media platforms to offer livestream shopping, though several softwares enable brands to host live shopping directly within their website or app too.
How Live Shopping Benefits Luxury Brands
Now that you’re up to speed with live shopping, it’s time to explore how luxury brands can benefit from this dynamic approach to e-commerce.
Nordstrom is one of the leading brands to have adopted live shopping through a dedicated livestream channel. Not only does it allow the luxury department store chain to promote specific products to its engaged audience, but it also allows customers to shop under the guidance and expertise of Nordstrom’s employees. As an early adopter of live shopping, Nordstom can take advantage of several benefits.
BETTER ENGAGED CUSTOMERS
Luxury shoppers often seek exceptional service and experiences. Through livestreams, they can interact with hosts, ask questions, and receive guidance, replicating the personalized attention they would expect from visiting a physical store. This, in turn, can help to increase brand loyalty and trust.
FEWER RETURNS
The existing disconnect between online and in-person shopping means that purchases made online have a higher return rate—around 30%, compared to 8.89% for products purchased in-store. By resolving some of the issues that consumers face in e-commerce, such as receiving quality customer service, or seeing products in use, livestream shopping can reduce online return rates by up to 40%.
INCREASED BRAND AWARENESS
As a growing phenomenon, live shopping events generate buzz and excitement, drawing more attention to brands. As these events continue to become more popular, viewers are likely to share their experiences with friends and social networks, increasing the brand's visibility and reach.
ENHANCED CUSTOMER ACCESSIBILITY
E-commerce is already a convenient channel for customers to make purchases. By introducing livestreams into the mix, customers can access even more information about products to reduce buyer hesitation.
How to Use Live Shopping to Increase Conversions
One of the biggest benefits that brands can experience from live shopping is a higher rate of conversions. Here’s how your brand can use live shopping to send your sales through the roof.
TAILOR YOUR CONTENT TO YOUR AUDIENCE
As with any and all forms of marketing, you must understand your target audience. This way, you can tailor aspects of your live shopping event to your specific audience, including:
Who should host the livestream
Which products should be presented
When the event should be
Where the event should take place
Etc.
Luxury brands should focus on presenting products in a way that aligns with the desires and expectations of their discerning clientele.
MAKE IT AUTHENTIC AND ENGAGING
Live shopping isn’t a one-way selling channel. Luxury brands must understand that, to get the most out of a shopping livestream, they should treat it as a conversation between the host or the brand and the viewers.
It’s not just for talking about the products and telling viewers to buy them, it’s about listening to their questions or conversations and connecting with the audience.
While you may want to prepare the outline of a script to ensure that the host hits key points, allowing them to be authentic can help to create a more engaging experience, allowing the brand personality to shine through.
USE PRODUCT DEMOS AND TUTORIALS
Live shopping presents a unique opportunity for luxury brands to go into a deeper level of detail and explanation about their products. Instead of using vague or generic sweeping statements to sell a product, use it as a chance to show the product in action, in different ways or scenarios, and how it can help or benefit the customer. Demonstrating a deep understanding of your products, including their features, materials, and craftsmanship, can help to boost buyer confidence and drive home those conversions.
OFFER EXCLUSIVE DEALS
If people are watching your livestream, they’re most likely interested in purchasing your products. Offering deals or discounts will tempt more customers to make a purchase.
Creating exclusive offers that are specific to the livestream will help to create a sense of urgency that increases sales, as customers won’t want to miss out on the fleeting deal.
REVEAL NEW PRODUCTS
Live shopping events are a fantastic way to promote new products to your customers. Not only does it create a buzz around your new product launches, but it makes your viewers feel like they’re a part of something unique and special. As the first people to see your new products, they’ll want to be among the first to own them.
Want to create powerful marketing strategies that boost your luxury e-commerce sales and conversions? Get in touch with the specialists at Block & Tam today.
