Despite the global pandemic, holiday sales rose by 8.3% in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association. This includes a 23.9% increase in online and non-store sales.
Thanks to rapid technological advancements and the global pandemic, holiday shoppers have already shifted their purchasing habits. As a result, online shopping is as popular as it has ever been.
In a world where information is at every shopper’s fingertips, video is a powerful tool to spread brand awareness.
Adding video to the holiday marketing strategy is a great way to engage holiday shoppers. Here are several reasons to keep in mind:
There are 74% of users who purchased a product or service right after watching an explainer video.
92% of mobile video consumers watch videos with their network of friends on social media, a good indication to spread brand awareness in a short amount of time.
There are a lot of mobile consumers that love videos since 51% of all videos are played on mobile devices, and that number continues to grow.
In order to catch the attention of holiday shoppers, brands need to create a well-placed video that will hook them just in time for the holidays. Leveraging video content will create memorable interactions with brands and holiday shoppers. Video will also help brands hype their holiday promotions, making holiday shoppers more excited to launch their holiday products and sales.
TIP 1: Reach holiday shoppers as they browse their feed by inspiring action with video.
Video content has evolved into more than just a tool for entertainment. It has become a tool that holiday shoppers seek to learn, seek, and inspire their gift purchases. While holiday shoppers watch videos on their social feed, make sure that the brand’s video content is compelling enough to convert passive browsing to active shopping. To encourage clicks and conversions, make the brand’s video ads a holiday window shopping tool when they see your product ads.
TIP 2: Engage customers as they research holiday gifts with interactive video ads.
Holiday shoppers tend to do research first before buying products online. They compare prices, look for sales, and check out the latest reviews. Today, video ads are more than just an awareness channel for holiday promotions. Brands can make interactive video ads by adding direct response elements in their video ads.
TIP 3: Covert holiday shoppers looking to purchase with interactive shoppable videos for a frictionless shopping experience.
Customers value a frictionless online shopping experience for the holidays. They want to buy a product online as soon as they have decided to buy it. Reach holiday shoppers more effectively with shoppable videos. Brands can also try adding video personalisation to shoppable video ads. It will help holiday shoppers have a unique holiday shopping experience.
Digital video is no longer simply an awareness channel. During the holiday season, more brands will look to make static video ads interactive by adding direct response elements to videos. Advances in rich media and video hotspot technology are making it easier to create interactive video campaigns while platforms like YouTube continue to enhance shopability on videos. Brands are making similar moves as well: Swarovski harnessed Smartzer's video hotspot technology to create an immersive and dynamic shoppable video campaign for their "Collection II".
"Historically a lot of people have thought about video ads as a very top of the funnel approach to create awareness, but in 2018 a shoppable video ad can also be used as a direct response tactic," said Adam Aslatei, vice president of marketing at Jun Group. "We need to widen our approach to video because in today's day and age, an interactive video campaign can literally lead to a purchase."
- Oct 29, 2021
Samsung has partnered with Smartzer's interactive video platform to deliver a series of exclusive live stream shopping events.
With the live stream shopping trend taking off in China, the craze is beginning to catch on across the globe. In fact, by 2023, the industry is set to be worth over $25 billion worldwide.
Samsung CA is taking advantage of this rapidly growing technology to use Smartzer's interactive video platform for several live shop shows. So far, the brand has successfully produced two live events to sell discounted tech products to thousands of viewers.
Execution:
Smartzer's shoppable video software enabled Samsung to create a real-time, interactive event. Viewers could click featured product popups to discover product information like pricing, colour options and description and then add the item to their cart to check out.
A chat bar enabled viewers to interact with the brand by asking questions and making comments. This provided a sociable element to online shopping. Viewers could also browse all the featured products via a bottom carousel. After the stream, the end screen displayed all the featured products in a final carousel for the customers to shop one more time.
After the stream, Samsung could export their live recording and repurpose it as on-demand content for those who may have missed the original event.
Results:
Samsung's shoppable live stream events are drawing thousands of viewers from across Central America. Smartzer's interactive video platform helped the tech giant to create an event that resulted in the following:
Clickable featured product popups displaying as the items appear onscreen
Browsable bottom carousel featuring all of the products in the stream
Product popups with pricing info, product name, description, colour options and add to cart cta
Comment/chat bar for viewers to communicate with the brand
Nickname function so commenters can give themselves a name before commenting
Realtime reaction heart button, allowing users to show a love heart emoji
End screen carousel with all the featured products
Live stream recording export functionality to allow the brand to repurpose the stream as on demand content, complete with shoppable functionality, comments and likes.
Conclusion:
With live shopping formats on the rise, Samsung is successfully pioneering the new technology with regular events featuring exclusive discounts. Social Ecommerce successfully bridges the gap between the offline and online shopping experience by creating a real-time "hybrid" format. As a result, customers can engage with brands closely from the comfort of their homes, providing a social shoppable solution during the global pandemic.
Updated: Nov 8, 2021
The way we shop online is changing as we know it. With faster technical advancements, it is no wonder that retail is transforming for the better.
2021 has seen a vast majority of brands move towards more online modes of selling. The pandemic is not over yet, so many merchants are taking extra digital precautions to ensure that their revenue is not compromised by the closure of bricks and mortar stores.
Even over the past few months, Ecommerce has seen some big names develop new, innovative ways of selling with huge players including Netflix, TikTok, Samsung and more.
Netflix Hub at Walmart digital storefront goes live
Netflix Hub at Walmart is pitched as the "biggest online retail destination for Netflix consumer products in the US."
It includes a Stranger Things music collection and action figures, Squid Game apparel, Cocomelon dolls and an Ada Twist lab playset.
It also promises customers “exclusive experiences to engage with popular Netflix shows in innovative ways.”
For example, a crowdsourcing opportunity called Netflix Fan Select will allow fans the opportunity to vote for merchandise they’d like to see from favoured Netflix shows. And then Walmart merchants will bring them to life.
“More than just the go to destination for your everyday needs, Walmart is now the official one stop shop to bring your favourite Netflix stories home. Go grab your Walmart snacks, new Netflix merch and snag the best seat on the couch,” says Jeff Evans, Executive Vice President, Entertainment, Toys and Seasonal, Walmart U.S.
Gen Zs pick TikTok for Black Friday and Xmas shopping
Six in ten Gen Zs will do their Black Friday 2021 and Christmas shopping using alternative methods such as Pinterest, TikTok and Alexa, according to research by Brightpearl.
Four in ten people prefer new social buying channels, shoppable video and live shopping events as they combine entertainment and shopping - much like traditional malls do.
But what is shoppable video or shoppable content?
This can range from on-demand video to live stream shopping events. Content has an interactive video overlay that viewers can click to bring up product information. This could be colour, price, size, links to product pages or even the option to add the item to their bag. With 57% of 18- to 24-year-olds turning to non-traditional ways of spending over the last year, these formats have seen a huge increase in popularity and ROI.
In 2021, Gen-Z shoppers look towards brand apps or even social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram for shoppable video solutions. As a result, brands are harnessing the power of interactive video platforms to create dynamic and immersive clickable content that not only engages, but informs and converts. Live stream shopping events have proven to be especially effective at creating a sociable and personalised way to shop online with the realtime element pushing impulse purchases.
Samsung took advantage of shoppable video technology to provide customers with an exclusive event where they could buy discounted products in realtime:
Forget offline vs online. The big word in retail is hybrid
Despite rapid advancements in streaming commerce to push more users online, this does not mean brands should abandon in person commerce. The key word now is hybrid, that is, the blurring of online and offline and the pursuit of one customer experience.
If you want proof, look no further than Amazon, which last week opened the doors to the first Amazon 4-star store outside of the US.
Customers can purchase online and collect orders at the store as soon as the next day. It also offers parcel free, label free returns for items purchased both in store and online.
Digital price tags are located alongside each product with the item price, average star rating, and the number of customer reviews.
Amazon account holders will pay the price as they would on the UK site. Prime members will receive exclusive perks and deals throughout the store.