Black Friday is THE shopping event in the run up to Christmas.
With many people knee deep in their Christmas shopping, the event provides a crucial opportunity to grab some insane bargains from top high-street brands.
This year the highly anticipated date falls on Friday the 26th November. However, with COVID-19 still impacting many countries, brands could be doubting whether shoppers will want to make the effort to come into a potentially packed store in person.
As a result, businesses may be looking towards new digital methods to sell in anticipation of bricks and motor store shopping being the less popular option.
Live stream shopping and streaming commerce opportunities have proven a life saver for E-commerce during the global pandemic. There is no reason why brands shouldn't harness the revolutionary technology to broadcast deals to the masses this Black Friday and beyond.
The US live stream shopping market is expected to reach $25 billion by 2023. Up $14 billion in 3 years.
This proves that the future of E-commerce lies within real-time shopping experiences that take advantage of the social elements of conversational commerce to push impulse purchases.
After all, impulse purchases are the driving force behind Black Friday. Combine this with real-time live stream shopping experiences and shoppable video content and you could see conversion rates sky rocket.
Interactive video platforms can help you boost your engagement rates by 3-4X this Black Friday with streaming commerce and shoppable video.
Shoppable videos can help your brand clearly advertise the hottest deals on E-commerce landing pages and direct customers straight to their perfect purchase.
Interactive video platforms like Smartzer allow businesses to add a clickable overlay to pre-existing video content. Brands can tag direct links to products pages alongside pricing info, sizing drop downs and even an 'add to cart' button. Dynamic video content grips the viewer while the clickable hotspots engage and provide customers with an instant way to buy. This massively reduces the path to purchase and drives revenue through the roof.
Save your customers the panic of searching for products this Christmas and Black Friday with shoppable video.
By the end of 2021, live streaming is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic
Streaming commerce can connect brands and customers live from their homes. Demonstrate how products work in exclusive, one-off sale events that engage customers. You can add product popups as your stream plays to give viewers a direct link to buy. Live stream shopping events provide a personalised experience via a chat bar that allows hosts and viewers to communicate.
You can incorporate countdowns, use live streams to boost your flash sales, and announce a referral program or coupon code. You could do these things with other forms of content, too, but there are very few forms of content that offer the interactivity and engagement of live streaming.
Check out Samsung's exclusive event that allowed viewers to shop one-off coupon deals via the magic of streaming commerce:
Streaming commerce can help your brand reach thousands of customers online and overcome barriers put in place by the global pandemic.
This Black Friday, use an interactive video platform to create a personalised, sociable shopping experience for customers at home to drive rapid, impulsive purchases.
- Aug 27, 2021
Livestream shopping has been building huge momentum over the past few years, and is showing no signs of slowing- it is now being hailed as the next big thing in interactive social commerce.
The trend that started in China, is now thriving internationally, with more and more brands jumping on the bandwagon. But what is the value of a livestream?
https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Livestream-shopping-booming-in-china-set-to-thrive-in-europe-usa-too,1258071.html
What is live stream shopping?
Livestream shopping is typically hosted by an influencer or celebrity, but more recently, brands have started using members of their own team- to leverage their knowledge and expertise of specific products. The host highlights specific products during the event, and viewers are able to click and purchase the product instantly.
Audiences can also interact with the stream by commenting in real time, helping brands further strengthen their relationships with customers. It serves as a simulation of the in-store shopping experience; where sales were traditionally made through talking through products face to face.
Live stream shopping in China
Live stream shopping has been a huge phenomenon in China for a while now; the fast paced, chaotic and colourful streams have become habitual for many Gen-Z and millennials across the country. The shows are usually hosted by popular influencers who feature different products from brands in each stream, with some products often selling out in minutes.
The trend first emerged in 2017 on platforms such as Taobao, Weibo and WeChat, and the industry is now estimated to be worth $66billion, and is responsible for 20.3% of China’s total online sales. In the first half of 2020, there were more than 10 million live streaming sessions, proving how popular the format is amongst Chinese buyers.
Live stream shopping in Western markets
It is no surprise that the extremely commercialised and high energy formatting of Chinese live shopping events are unlikely to gain traction in Western markets, where customers prefer a softer sell. However, many brands have jumped on the trend by tweaking the format to suit their brand and their customers- it is no longer a market exclusive trend.
Many have leveraged highly aligned influencers, as well as brand representatives to host the live, talk through products, and answer any questions customers may have. The result is an authentic, natural and intimate shopping experience that allows brands to communicate directly with their customers- as they would do in store- but on a mass scale.
In the US, the livestreaming market is expected to surpass $25billion by 2023. Platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have already enabled live stream shopping events; Facebook, for example, launched Live Shopping Fridays where consumers can enjoy shoppable live videos from beauty and fashion brands. Amazon has a streaming platform, which hosts daily shows on fitness, makeup and cooking- which indicates the exponential growth of the live streaming market.
Why should brands integrate live stream commerce into their strategy?
There are many reasons why shoppable live streams have huge value to a brand- the applicability is virtually endless. The first of which is communication and relationship building; after hosting a spring 2021 livestream, Aldo noted a 308% increase in engagement rate and registered 17,000 views on its website in the first five days after the event. The brand used the event as a way of reconnecting with its customers and building an emotional connection.
Secondly, live streams can help shoppers make more informed purchase decisions by showing them the product in action and giving consumers the details they need before buying- it can help push tentative customers over the line. Furthermore, research shows returns are 50% lower when a product is bought off a livestream compared to traditional e-commerce channels.
Data shows 84% of consumers say a brand’s video has convinced them to make a purchase and 96% of people have watched a video to learn more about a product or service. During live streams, there’s more product information than traditional ads, and it’s often coming from a host consumers already know and trust.
Live shopping allows pretty much anyone who has something to sell to create their own shopping channel that is also a social network and an e-commerce platform- a hybrid model that is very low in cost. Brands, influencers, small businesses can foster a sense of community and trust among their target audience that is more valuable than just social or digital commerce alone.
See case studies from brands we have worked with here!
How does live commerce create value?
Firstly, live shopping helps to accelerate conversion, it is entertaining, informative, interactive and immersive, keeping viewers watching longer and bringing the products to life as if it was an in store interaction. The customer is able to better justify how they would use, style or enjoy a product. It also telescopes customer decision journeys from awareness to purchase, which has been traditionally difficult to follow with other marketing activities.
Secondly, live streams are a fantastic way of improving/growing brand appeal and differentiation. Done well, live commerce increases a brand’s appeal and distinctiveness and pulls in additional web traffic. It is also a cost effective way of building more content for a brands e-commerce site, social media and other channels where they can share the post-live video as a shoppable on demand experience.
In conclusion, shoppable live streams are one of the biggest phenonmenons of 2021, and are no longer exclusive to China; brands can tailor the experience to suit the shopping behaviours of their customers- the future is now!
If you would like to learn more about how Smartzer can help your brand, feel free to book a demo here!
Sources:
Updated: Aug 25, 2021
Check out these game changing apps on Shopify that can help you harness the top 5 CRO boosting techniques.
There are many ways you can improve your Shopify store's conversion rate. Whether it is including a video player on Shopify sites, improving your email marketing or managing SEO, we have put together a list of the top 5 apps and top 5 methods to help you to maximise profit and boost your brand to new heights 👇
1. CM Commerce - Email Marketing
The app on Shopify helps brands to send smarter emails with personalisation and refined targeting.
Send emails featuring segments specific to your audience as well as conversion driven campaigns
Recover revenue with abandoned cart emails
Include reviews
Send valuable feedback surveys
Check out CM Commerce here!
2. Smartzer - Video on Shopify and Shopify Livestream
The Smartzer app helps brands to create shoppable video on Shopify as well as Shopify Livestream. Boost conversion with an engaging, interactive and memorable video player on Shopify.
Easy to distribute, on-demand and shoppable videos that can be used across social media, on ecommerce and in email newsletters
Tag video on Shopify with interactive, clickable product tags with information and an 'add to cart' functionality
Import product information direct from product feeds to show customers correct stock information
Broadcast Shopify livestreams to sell products in real time.
Find out more about using a video player on Shopify with Smartzer.
3. Privy - Popups
Create exit popups and emails to show your customer the best deals and push conversions.
Create site popups with special offers, promotions and the option to grow your mailing list
Create loyalty schemes tailored to your Shopify brand
Save abandoned cart revenue with reminder popups
Check out Privy here!
4. Easy Video - Product videos for your store
Add excitement to your store with this app for product video on Shopify.
Easy Video supports YouTube and Vimeo to allow users to add product videos to galleries
Customise your video layout with flexible settings (autoplay, thumbnail icon, video aspect ratio)
No coding required
Bring your products to live with Easy Video
Find out more here!
5. Sitemapper - SEO Manager
Boost your sites visibility on Search Engines with Sitemapper SEO Manager.
Generate a site map for your Shopify store
Improve traffic to your store to boost conversion rates
Link products to blog posts
Create site maps that include all the products you are selling
Check out Sitemapper here!