It is the time of year again where we wanted to compile our favourite live shopping event examples from 2022!
Since the initial introduction of live shopping during covid, many brands and retailers are now viewing this as a must have sales channel on their e-commerce sites. Since the pandemic there has been a 76% increase in purchases made through live shopping. Based on the recent success with this format, 2023 is also looking like the year when brands are going to move from experimenting with live shopping to building it into their ongoing strategy.
We are seeing a broad range of live shopping event types, ranging from shows hosted by brand experts to influencers and show hosts. In addition to brands and retailers we are also seeing publishers getting into live shopping to enhance their online experience and offering their brand partners a new way to use affiliate programs.
Bloomingdales x Kiehlâs live shopping masterclasses
Bloomingdales has jumped into live shopping with regular beauty masterclasses in partnership with different makeup and skin care brands. The live shopping masterclasses are hosted by experts who have in-depth product knowledge, speaking to one of the key reasons for viewers to join a live shopping experience: to learn more about the brand and products.
Kiehlâs live shopping skin care masterclass was an excellent example of a successful live shopping event. The live shopping event was hosted by an employee of Kiehlâs who had in-depth knowledge of skincare and Kiehlâs products. The event was largely driven by education and questions from the audience, making it highly engaging. The viewers were able to shop all the products via real time featured shoppable products as well as exploring shoppable products in a carousel.
In addition to shoppability, Bloomingdales included interactive elements for a competition and ability to become a Bloomingdales loyalty member. Approximately 30% of their audience clicked to learn more about Bloomingdales membership. They also encouraged the audience throughout the live shopping event to enter the competition and announced the winners at the end of the live shopping event which boosted the average view time and engagement.
SassyClassy x Bellbyrd Black Friday live shopping
A super popular German ecommerce brand SassyClassy hosted their first live shopping event in partnership with Bellbyrd for Black Friday. The live shopping event was created as a really fun shopping experience featuring a host talking through a selection of looks and models showcasing the outfits as part of the show. The live stream also showed detailed close up shots of the products giving the viewers ability to see the details of each garment. During the live shopping event, viewers were able to explore all the shoppable products and add them directly to their shopping cart. Purchases during the show were also given a 25% extra discount to encourage shopping.
Viewers were also able to ask questions, send comments and likes during the show. The live shopping event was also made available as a recording for anyone that missed the show or wanted to watch it again.
Super-Pharm live shopping
Israelâs leading marketplace, Super-Pharm launched a live shopping series featuring an Israeli influencer Yuval Kaspit. The show was presented in a super fun format where the influencer was presenting the products, engaging both with the audience as well as the backstage crew during the live shopping event. This enabled for the show to feel very authentic and enabled viewers to feel like part of the fun. There was also a competition which was driven by viewers leaving comments on the live stream, which helped with driving extra engagement. Of course, during the live shopping event, viewers were able to explore all the shoppable products and to add these directly to their Super-Pharm shopping cart.
The show is also available to view as a recording, which has all the functionalities of the original live shopping event, apart from ability to leave new comments and send likes.
Following the success of the first live shopping event, Super-Pharm has since launched additional live shopping events featuring Yuval Kaspit as well as a guest influencer.
Buttonscarves weekly live shopping series
Known for their simple, low-production but yet effective live shopping events, Buttonscarves, the Indonesian fashion brand has reached almost 8X ROI by doing weekly live shopping events hosted on their Shopify store.
The regular hour long live shopping events feature a stylist from Buttonscarves talking through a selection of their latest products. The products are featured in real time as they are revealed in the live shopping event. The viewers can add the products directly to their shopping cart without leaving the live show.
Regular live shopping events can highly increase the sense of community of a brand. Once you connect with your customers on a more regular and personal basis, it is just a matter of time thatâs reflected into sales and Buttonscarves is the perfect example of it.
Once the shows are completed, Buttonscarves also keep a recording of the live shows on their dedicated Live Shopping section of the website, where viewers can re-live the experience and also easily explore the full selection of products in a shoppable carousel.
Grazia live shopping events
Grazia is leading the way for publishers to get into live shopping. Grazia has launched a series of live shopping events which are hosted on a dedicated section of their website and embedded within articles. The live shopping events range across fashion and beauty categories featuring Graziaâs head of Beauty.
The live shopping event enables viewers to comment, ask questions, send likes and of course to explore the shoppable products. The shoppable products are available both through a shoppable carousel as well as products featured in real time. Clicking on the products opens a product summary popup with a direct link to shop the product on an ecommerce website. The live shopping events hosted by Grazia enable affiliate links, providing an exciting new way to utilise affiliate partnerships.
This is a great example of a non-brand hosted live shopping event and shows that this format is not limited to e-commerce sites only. Here is a full blog on Grazia's Live Shopping.
These were just a small selection of the amazing live shopping events that we have seen this year! You can get in touch with us here if you would like any more information on how to make sure that live shopping is included in your 2023 strategy.
IMG: LIVE SHOPPING ECOSYSTEM
Live shopping initially emerged as a new shopping format from China driven by the success of sites such as Taobao, Mogujie, Webo and even Alibaba. As this format has expanded globally, the live shopping ecosystem has now developed into 3 main channels; dedicated live shopping apps, live shopping on main social platforms, and live shopping on e-commerce.
With so much choice, where should brands begin testing this format and what are the pros and cons for each?
Dedicated Live Shopping Apps / Platforms
Letâs start with dedicated live shopping apps or platforms which gained lots of popularity in 2020 such as NTWRK, ooooo, Yeay and Whatnot. These are all Gen Z focused experiences much like âmodern day QVCâ where you can watch lots of different live shopping events from brands and influencers within a single platform. These platforms are often focused on a mix of regular programming as well as popup shows combined with flash sales to keep engagement.
IMG: Billie Eilish collectables as seen on NTWRKNTWRK
Pros
A single destination for lots of live shopping content
Mobile first focused shopping experience
Enables brands to test this new format easily as no technical integration is needed from their side
Cons
The experience only works on the specific app/platform - brands need to send their customers to these platforms for them to be able to watch the live shopping event.
Downloading new apps/creating accounts in new platforms is a significant barrier and causes a high dropoff of viewers
Shoppers donât necessarily trust the new platforms enough to make a purchase on them
Main social media platforms
The second channel where live shopping has started to gain popularity are from the main social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. The platforms are now allowing for brands and certain influencers to go live and tag shoppable products in their live streams.
IMG: TIKTOK LIVE SHOPPING
Pros
Brands can reach new audiences when influencers, with existing following, host live shopping events
Good format for non conversion based KPIs
Best for promoting low ticket items (sub $10)
Cons
Consumers outside of China donât feel comfortable making purchases directly from social platforms e.g. entering credit card info into TikTok. Most shoppers prefer to buy from the brand;s website.
Instagram live shopping capability limited to certain markets and product catalogue owners
Brands can access very limited performance data from live shopping formats
Live shopping shows are often diluted with âsimilarâ products or âdupesâ that are a lot cheaper than the original.
E-commerce
Last but not least, live shopping events can also be hosted on e-commerce sites by brands and retailers. This channel was originally slower to grow as it requires the brands to bring together multiple elements: the technology to enable live shopping on their e-commerce, the presenters and content creation as well as well rounded marketing strategy to drive audiences to the live shows. However, in terms of driving concrete conversion based results, this channel is proving to be the most effective. Brands are seeing ROI of up to 7.8X. Following the lead of some global companies such as Amazon and Walmart, more and more brands are now building live shopping as a new section on their site where visitors can go and check out any live shows + see recordings of some past shows.
IMG: LIVE SHOPPING KIEHL'S x BLOOMINGDALES USING SMARTZER TECHNOLOGY
Pros
Average viewing times 20X more than main social channels
Consumers get a bespoke live shopping experience and able to shop directly from the brand they know and trust
Brands have access to detailed performance and customer preference data
Transaction takes place on the brandâs or retailerâs own e-commerce where they maintain full control of the data and 100% of their margin
A great way for brands to add a highly engaging section to their website
Cons
Brands require a strategy to drive their audience to the live shopping page through social media and email marketing
An ongoing regular streaming strategy is required to build up a community
Initial integration into the brand's e-commerce site is required, however this is typically relatively quick
Generally, we would recommend brands to test a mix of these channels to find out what works best for them since each one has a different experience and audience. Which of these channels should a brand focus on as priority, depends on their key goals.
If the main purpose is brand awareness and acquiring new customers, it would be recommended to go live on the main social channels, even if this is in a non-shoppable format due to limitations of some of the social platforms. For brand awareness purposes, brands can also benefit from live shopping specific apps which are focused on a defined audience interest e.g. food, beauty etc.
If the main goal is conversion, brands are in the best position when hosting the live commerce events on their own e-commerce site. The most successful cases involve building a dedicated section on e-commerce for live shopping which includes upcoming and past streams. The main social channels can be used in parallel to drive traffic to the live shopping page on their website. This way brands can utilise social channels to raise awareness of their own live shopping program and to drive new audiences to their site.
đ More about how Smartzer can help brands get started with Live Shopping here.
Over the last past 10 years we have seen livestreaming evolve from corporate webcasting to gaming and now a solution for consumers to buy directly through live interactive shopping.
Now more than ever consumers feel better connected to the brands they shop with, with up to 60% of shoppers who have tried livestream shopping say it has improved their experience.
Live shopping is still in the very early stages of being a worthy sales channel (particularly in the west) and, according to Shopify, it is estimated to reach $25 billion by 2023.
Despite the high projections, brands are still moving into next year teasing with the idea on whether they should go live or not. Perhaps some of the reasons why livestreaming is still sidelined could be down to what we call âThe three Câsâ.
Cost
Consistency
Conversions
So let's talk about these quickly:
COST
To go back a bitâŚ. Live shopping is something we are used to seeing on TV via QVC and HSN. Perhaps that is the reason why we associate high production costs to live shopping.
It is often believed that in order to go live you would need to acquire a studio, a bunch of cameras and a team of engineers, producers and directors in order to have a successful show.
The question: âHow much do you think production is going to cost us?â is one that is asked a lot and the answer can be quite simple.
Thanks to social media and the advancement in technology that our mobile phones possess, the way we view our content has changed. More now than ever we want to have seamless experiences via our mobile devices. So why complicate the production process?
Most people are going to be watching on a mobile device so why not shoot from a mobile device? Grab the camera on your mobile phone and a ring light and, quite simply, you are good to go!
Our interactive live streaming solution is completely optimised for mobile technology, meaning that the journey from viewer to buyer has never been easier. Your audience can easily navigate within the live shopping event, and most importantly, connect with your brand within a social environment.
CONSISTENCY
This is a question I get asked all of the time. If you think going live once is going to have a big impact on your conversions then you are going to be really disappointed.
Bare with me on this⌠For those of us that were obsessed with Game of Thrones, we would often set boundaries within our life to ensure that no one disturbed us for the hour when the program was on. We knew what time, where we could watch and who we wanted to talk to as soon as the show finished. So, we changed our lifestyle to make sure we could watch it first. We did not miss out.
The same goes for livestream shopping. Setting up a regular schedule can help consumers change their habits so they can be regular shoppers on your shows. Whether your viewers are looking for the best deals, or having their questions answered about your product, consistency can be the key.
We have found that when brands stick to a regular schedule, their consumer base reacts with a high volume of viewers which of course can lead to conversions.
So be more like Game of Thrones and set your time and stick to it! It does not have to be once a week. Sometimes going live once a month for a âpay-day showâ can also work. The key is to be consistent and stick to the schedule!
CONVERSIONS
How do we convert? I wish I could give you a scientific answer on how to force consumers to buy every single product on your live shopping show. What I can do is give you some suggestions that have helped:
Education will be the most important tool to start with. Show your consumers how to shop and where they can click on their favourite products.
Utiltise gamification techniques such as discounts or prizes during the show. This also makes the show fun to watch and engages with your audience.
Treat the consumers like a community. People want to feel they are a part of something and live shopping can have a real impact here. This encourages people to come back and participate in your next shopping experience.
Drive traffic from your social channels! Utilise your social media to show your audience where they can watch the livestream!
To summarise, going live has never been easier. Within our technology ambassadors of your company or creators you work with can go live using their mobile phone from anywhere in the world.
Live shopping can be an authentic experience for your consumers which will help drive engagement and traffic to your side, optimising on the opportunity to get to know your customers better.
Want to learn more? Book in a live shopping demo with Smartzer today.