Updated: Mar 19, 2021
Interactive features can help ecommerce sites optimise their online content and engage as many visitors as possible. Brands must focus on turning standard traffic into qualified traffic because at the end of the day, the main objective of ecommerce is to achieve conversions.
Considering this, how can brands create immersive and memorable ecommerce content to succeed online?
Here are some of the ways brands can use interaction videos on ecommerce to engage and convert.
1. Interactive and Shoppable Videos: Feelunique X Smartzer
Feelunique used Smartzer's interactive video platform to create a shoppable video for their ecommerce. Smartzer's technology allows brands to make new and existing content interactive by adding a clickable overlay where brands can tag products for users to buy. Product info can be added via images, text, URL's, Product API's, Product Feed and manually. The viewer can click on an item that interests them to learn more, check out colour ways and "buy now" by tapping the call to action. By using interaction video on ecommerce, brands can increase their engagement rates by 40% and increase conversion rates by 400%. This video is particularly effective as viewers can see the cosmetics in action, giving them the confidence to buy.
2. Virtual Showrooms on Wholesale Ecommerce: Nu Order
Nu Order has embraced interactive and shoppable video on their B2B ecommerce platform. Here, brands can create virtual showrooms that display their products to retailers for purchase. Nu Order's technology allows products to be shown in 3D via a 360 rotational tool. Viewers can zoom, spin and swipe items to view them in more detail. The ecommerce site provides a central place for retailers to shop collections. The platform also supports shoppable campaign videos and runway shows. This creates an experience like no other, immersing the viewers in the latest trends.
3. Surveys, Quizzes and Forms: Two Chimps Coffee
Surveys, quizzes and forms can help provide a bespoke and personalised experience for site visitors. In fact, 80% of consumers are more like to purchase from brands that offer personalised experiences. For example, Two Chimps Coffee provides a dynamic and informative quiz on the site landing page. This allows customers to find their perfect blend straight away, shortening the path to purchase with no need to spend ages browsing through every product. By reducing the steps in the purchase funnel, quizzes can lead to quicker conversions on ecommerce.
4. Chat Bots and Conversational Commerce: Hero
Chat bots help generate engagement and conversion by offering advice and help to site visitors 24/7. This can be through automated response or through store assistants on the other end of the line. Chat features aim to bring the benefits of in store shopping, online through personalised advice. This gives consumers the confidence to make informed purchases. Conversational ecommerce app, Hero, allows brands to communicate with customers via chat rooms and video calls. This gives a human feel to computer driven bots. Customers can schedule store visits, 1-1 calls, creating a personal channel to connect brands and engage consumers. Hero has worked with ecommerce sites like Size?, Nike, Harvey Nichols, Chloe, Nike and more. The chat bot industry is set to be worth $1.34 billion by 2024.
5. Interactive Product Testing: NYX Cosmetics
NYX has introduced a virtual try on feature to their ecommerce site. Users can try on products by opening their live cameras or choosing a model similar to their skin tone. Consumers can then browse the product catalog and try on various cosmetics to find their dream shade. The before and after button allows users to see the results. This shoppable feature brings beauty counters to customer homes and provides a fun, almost gamified experience to beauty shopping. Try it for yourself here!
6. Livestream Video Events: Brown Thomas X Smartzer
Brown Thomas used livestream to sell their products in real-time. Using Smartzer's interactive video platform they were able to create a clickable and shoppable video stream on their ecommerce site. The platform allows brands to add product links before the stream on an editor. Brands can then build a shoppable carousel that will feature alongside the stream, see above for Charlotte Tilbury's example. The video will then be connected to the live streaming service on ecommerce sites where viewers can watch and shopalong. Livestream events can be ticketed to create a sense of exclusivity for the customer. Being able to see products in action will help consumers made educated purchases within the video. Following the stream, brands will be able to reuse the interaction video on ecommerce landing pages to promote products for purchase.
These examples demonstrate how brands can use interactivity to generate engagement and conversions on ecommerce sites. Brands should stay on top of shoppable trends to succeed on ecommerce.
- Mar 11, 2021
Updated: Sep 7, 2021
Interactive videos can used within content marketing strategies to create immersive and clickable promotional material.
Interactive video engages a viewer, resulting in longer viewing time. Viewers may be able to click on areas of the video to learn more about a product and may even be able to purchase it straight from the shoppable video. Brands can track every interaction that is made within the video, leading to a better understanding of their consumer. Viewers are turned into qualified traffic towards E-commerce sites and as a result, the path to purchase is shortened. 88% of marketers say at least 10% of their content will be interactive in the next two years.
With 300 hours of videos added to YouTube every minute and 500 million people using Instagram stories daily, it is important for brands to be heard above the online noise. So, if you are looking for inspiration for your next campaign, here are our top ten brand examples of interactive video:
1. Quizzes: Personicom X Vyond
Personicom's interaction video allows the viewer to input their details to receive personalised life insurance offers based on their preferences. The cartoon character guides the consumer through the process, turning the mundane activity of shopping for life insurance into an immersive, engaging and easy to understand experience.
2. Shoppable Video: IKEA X WIREWAX
In this video, IKEA turns everyday activities into a David Attenborough style documentary. Throughout the shoppable video the viewer can hover over IKEA's homeware products to view more information and then "shop now" by clicking the call-to-action. This will then direct the viewer to the brands ecommerce to make a purchase. If not, they can return to their previous place in the interactive video to continue the experience.
3. Interactive Social Media Content: VW Golf X Smartzer
Volkswagen and Smartzer joined forces to create interaction videos on Instagram stories and through in feed ads. Smartzer's interactive video platform allowed the brand to create an exciting and dynamic video of the car. Viewers were able to explore areas of the vehicle by selecting each part in the clickable side bar. A call-to-action encouraged consumers to "book a test drive". The ad was highly effective, encouraging a 62% engagement rate and a 27% CTR.
4. Digital Wholesale/ Virtual Showrooms: Le New Black X Kenzo
By partnering with interactive, digital wholesaler, Le New Black, Kenzo was able to create a digital showroom. The brand highlighted their new collection online, when in-person showrooms were prohibited due to the pandemic. Le New Black allows brands to exhibit their products in a 360 degree showroom. So, retailers can zoom, spin, swipe items to view them in detail online. The B2B use of interactive and shoppable video is proving to be highly effective and will no doubt increase over the next years.
5. Interactive, Shoppable Livestream: Walmart
In December 2020, Walmart took to TikTok to launch a shoppable livestream featuring their favourite fashion pieces for Christmas. Viewers could buy the products by clicking product pins and adding them to their cart. A mobile check out would appear at the end of the stream for viewers to complete purchases. The experience was so popular that Walmart is recreating this experience at 9am US time on 11 March 2021 on TikTok. The interactive live stream will be a beauty tutorial lasting 60 minutes, featuring brands like L'Oréal, Maybelline, NYX and Marc Jacobs. Host, Gaby Morrison, will broadcast to her 3.5 million followers on the platform.
6. Customisable Video: Nike Air Max DIA X WIREWAX
When it comes to interaction videos, customisability and personalisation can be the most fun and exciting activity to engage with. Here, viewers can choose their own advert for a photoshoot. The stylist talks the viewer through each product and gives a clear representation of how the clothes may look in real life. The fresh take on style advising helps to bring the offline shopping experience, online.
7. Interactive Travel Videos: Amazing Thailand X Smartzer
Smarter and Amazing Thailand partnered to make this interactive travel video. The interactive areas of the video tell the viewer more about attractions in Thailand and show a realistic and beautiful portrayal of the country. Using a wide range of content Smartzer tagged different experiences, spa & wellness possibilities, hotels, luxury tour packages and some culinary must-go places, which a viewer can explore from the comfort of their own home by clicking on the video.
8. Gamified Experience: LIFESAVER Interactive film by Martin Piercy
This promotional ad for LIFESAVER provides the viewer with scenario based options. The viewer can learn how to save a life by making decisions that affect the stories outcome. The video shows the consumer how to do CPR correctly to save a life.
9. Interactive Livestream: Burberry X Twitch
Achieving 32,000 concurrent views, Burberry took their SS21 fashion show live using Amazon owned streaming service, Twitch. Viewers were given a front row seat to the show from their living rooms, a rare opportunity for many fashion fans. The inclusive stream allowed viewers to discuss the show in a chat room with guest appearances from celebrities like Bella Hadid and Erykah Badu. The community feel generated by livestream made viewers feel connected to the brand and immersed them in a unique online experience.
10. Decide Your Destiny: Netflix's Blackmirror: Bandersnatch
This unique episode of Blackmirror allowed viewers to make decisions for the protagonist to essentially choose whether he lives, dies, succeeds or fails. The interaction video had a possible 35 endings. However, producer, Charlie Brooker, said there could possibly be more and had lost track of how many possibilities there could be for the viewer.
Summary
All of these examples use interactive video platforms to the best of their ability successfully engaging and astounding the viewer. The thrilling content creates a user experience like no other that stays in the mind of the consumer. If brands can successfully harness this technology now, anything could be possible for video content marketing in the future.
Updated: Jul 2, 2021
Livestream shopping is THE most talked about trend with marketeers at the moment.
But what does live shopping actually involve? How does it work? How can it help brands to drive sales over the next year?
What is live shopping?
Live streaming e-commerce originated in China. Here, large and small businesses have been streaming with influencers to sell products to a live audience. This gives viewers the opportunity to purchase products demonstrated in the live stream, giving rise to a $30bn market in the live streaming space.
The trend gained momentum back in 2019, but this method of streaming commerce had been around for quite a while before then. Now, livestream shopping has become so popular that brands hire actors and influencers to host streams directly from their bricks and mortar shops. Products are sold alongside the streams and the method has proven to be extremely profitable, especially during the global pandemic.
China has become an e-commerce trendsetter, with live shop tech setting the benchmark for every other country in the world. Now, thanks to COVID 19, brands across the globe are harnessing this tech to connect with customers. In 2021, live stream shopping has become a household name amongst marketeers.
How does livestream shopping work?
Livestream shopping works in a similar way to shoppable video. However, instead of tagging a pre-existing video, you create tags before the stream and add them to your stream as you broadcast. As a result, an overlay will be created over the top of your livestream content that consumers can interact with. During the live stream, viewers are able to click on the products, see full details and add these to their cart seamlessly without leaving the live stream. Brands can use this streaming commerce technology across different platforms, including social media.
Due to the unprecedented times, it is expected that livestream technology will grow exponentially over the next year and potentially double the profit it generated last year. Therefore, we can expect more and more brands to get involved with this technology.
The benefits of livestream shopping
Streaming commerce is incredibly profitable and can even help brands save money with content creation.
With shoppable livestreams, brands no longer need to spend loads of money on producing high budget ad campaigns. This is due to the simplicity of the "see now, buy now" ethos of streaming commerce. All brands need to do is select products suited to their consumer who will then willingly engage with the stream. The consumer will learn about the products displayed and purchase them after or during the stream. The organic nature of streaming commerce removes the expectations associated with high production videos. Livestream shopping is supposed to be a real-time personable experience and by using influencers content becomes even more relatable to the consumer.
Streaming commerce helps capture the attention of the consumer in real-time, attracting them to the product and allowing product purchase through the same platform or via a link to the brands e-commerce. This provides an engaging, authentic experience for a consumer. Influencers can help drive conversions as many people look towards the trustworthy opinion of others before buying products.
Following the livestream, brands can save the video and use it as promotional material for those who were unable to attend the event. By allowing consumers to shop live, brands create interactive and profitable content that connects with audiences.
How can I introduce live shopping for my brand?
There are many ways to introduce live shopping. One option is through in-platform formats. Recently, Instagram has released a live shopping format within their app, available in the US, ‘Instagram Live Shopping is available for any Instagram Business accounts that have Checkout capabilities’. Instagram allows users to activate their live shopping tool while streaming, allowing customers to purchase products displayed. Viewers can also interact with the host via a chatroom.
Amazon has introduced 'Amazon Live' which allows viewers to watch and interact with a streaming video and buy the products used from Amazon. Influencers are are taking advantage of this new modality since they can advertise their products in action and answer customer questions in real time. Amazon Live has caught the attention of many and is now one of their most valuable features.
Another highly effective channel for live shopping is brand's own e-commerce sites. Hosting live video shopping sessions on brand's websites has multiple benefits; turning your e-commerce site into a highly engaging content destination, driving higher converion rates as customers watching the live stream are already on your website in the mindset to shop, and the ability to provide customised live shopping experiences to match your brands requirements. Smartzer is the leading platform that supports livestream shopping on e-commerce with instant setup on platforms such as Shopify. Here, you can learn more about how Smartzer's technology works and how brands are using it to add products to their live streams.
Check out an example of Smartzer's stream with Clarks below!
Conclusion:
It is clear that livestream shopping can be highly beneficial for brands and the future of e-commerce. With a variety of modalities to choose from, brands should consider the rapid growth in streaming commerce and the role that it will play in online shopping over the coming years. It seems now is the time to seize the opportunities available to shop live.
If you’d like to know more about how to make your next livestream shoppable feel free to contact us or request a demo.