Live Commerce : tout ce que vous voulez savoir sur le live commerce

Le live commerce se différencie des canaux d’acquisition classiques par son caractère conversationnel et humain. À la manière d’un divertissement, il suscite l’intérêt par une démonstration de produits en direct. C’est précisément par l’échange et les émotions que se crée le désir d’achat.

Retail isn’t just in our homes. It’s in our pockets, making real-time, highly engaging, and interactive shopping experiences more accessible than ever.

In China, livestream shopping is worth $66 billion, a figure that’s forecasted to reach almost half a trillion dollars by 2023, thanks to influencers like Viya, who attract millions of viewers to their shopping streams. Viya even garnered the attention of Kim Kardashian, who collaborated with her and other Chinese influencers in the lead-up to November 11, "Singles’ Day," China’s biggest shopping event of the year. The collaboration saw the American mogul sell 150,000 bottles of perfume in seconds.

The rest of the world is catching up, accelerated by the jump in e-commerce sales in the wake of the pandemic. In a locked-down world, Live Shopping offered a pseudo-in-store experience coupled with a variety-show-like entertainment and group chat-style connection. Even before the pandemic took hold, an estimated $1 billion worth of sales in the US were attributed to Live Shopping streams.

Live Shopping is a pillar of "conversational commerce" where buyers engage with brands, influencers, friends, and fellow consumers on social media. It is precisely through exchanges and emotions on these channels, where your shopper’s desire to buy comes into fruition. Here’s how social commerce and Live Shopping adds value for you and your customer.

Customers are bombarded with information, and many have become numb to social media advertising. Their feeds are cluttered with slick, staged imagery, igniting a hunger for real, authentic connections — they want to relate with someone.

In recent years, video has become a high value marketing channel for consumers. Video marketing generates 49% more revenue. 54% of people who view content are likely to buy a product afterwards. This explains the popularity of live videos on social networks, which has high conversion rate potential.

Live Shopping feeds this hunger, empowering your brand to cut through the noise and connect directly with its audience. That sense of genuine connection builds trust and encourages loyalty. At the same time, it creates a sense of urgency, as shoppers are nudged toward the "buy now" button and checkout by someone they’ve come to admire. That’s the power of influence.

Live Shopping must be a social and human buying experience offered to the user. In the form of an interactive demonstration, video is the ideal medium to generate incremental sales. The host of the Live Shopping event will be chosen for their product expertise or their role as an influencer. It could even be the person who founded the brand.

The objective is to offer added value to the viewer by showing the use of the products. This approach is particularly suitable for the following markets:

• Beauty
• Fashion
• Food
• Automotive
• Interior design
• Electronics
• Household appliances

In a classic e-commerce experience, the customer is alone. Of course, a chatbot (which can be an intelligent chatbot) can enrich this shopping experience by guiding the consumer and answering simple questions. However, it is not a human experience or a sharing moment.

During a Live Shopping event, the Internet user receives an invite to the planned stream. This invitation is a moment of relaxation and entertainment. It gives more importance to the person behind the screen because it solicits them and integrates them fully into their community.

This feeling of belonging, found in social network marketing, provides the user with satisfaction and generates trust. If the Live Shopping event gets presented as an exceptional private sale, there will be a promotion of the exclusivity dimension of the event. Additionally, Live Shopping can be associated with events such as: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or new product launches.

When the Live Shopping event has famous personalities like influencers as hosts, then a new audience can be reached. Of course, the choice of the influencer is made in accordance with the brand's values. If they are passionate about the product, it will be beneficial for the brand to acquire new customers, as both communities will have common interests.

Live Shopping combines messaging with live video and gives a new dimension to e-commerce. It builds an immersive and interactive live experience that prioritizes the voice of the consumer. They are not passive in front of the products but participate fully by posting comments and questions engaging with other brand ambassadors.

This type of activity is fundamental to:

• Answer various questions about the product
• Remove any purchasing hesitation by showing the advantages of the product
• Engage the community
• Give the user confidence by giving a face to the brand and humanizing it
• Make direct sales by integrating the product sheets into the live
• Generate sales after the live event thanks to the live shopping replay and the broadcast on social networks

Live Shopping is the type of content that requires a script in advance, but it must appear as an authentic moment of sharing. In Live Shopping, it's the one-to-many consumer experience that gives a spectacular dimension to the conversation. Everyone can see each other's comments and participate in the exchange.

However, the user must not get lost in the mass of messages. Each user expects a personalized answer to their question. We are back to a form of conversational personal shopping where a dialogue is established. It is paramount to manage the moderation of comments to maintain the quality of exchanges and to be able to answer each question.

Check out our video on why you should get into Live Shopping

You know how incredible your product is, but static images don’t necessarily communicate those extra-special features. Distrust in online retail is on the rise, thanks in part to viral "expectation vs. reality" memes and online shopping fails. Live Shopping’s relaxed video format eradicates viewers’ skepticism, as they can see the product from all angles and in real-time. Instead of a polished studio photo, Live Shopping offers an experience akin to getting up close and personal with a product in-store, watching a demo, or even sitting front row in a fashion show.

People buy from people, not brands. Your audience craves authenticity, and Live Shopping gives you a platform to foster engagement, collaboration, and human-to-human interaction.

Live Shopping events offer viewers an insight into the influencer’s or brand ambassador’s first reactions. They get an opportunity to learn, discover, and participate in a shared experience. Through the power of chat, they can even ask questions and direct the stream in a new, personalized direction.

Live retail also creates a sense of exclusivity. The viewers are all in it together, gaining an insider’s perspective that not everyone is privy to.

Now that we’ve answered the question, "What is Live Shopping?" we’re ready to explore how you can roadmap a high-impact live retail strategy that adds genuine value.

Here’s how to set up a Live Shopping strategy in five steps.

Facebook Live Shopping

If you are already familiar with livestreaming on Facebook, Live Shopping is very similar. You must have a Facebook store to sell products directly live from Facebook, otherwise you will have to set it up. Plan to do this early enough. The products need to be approved by Facebook beforehand and it may take a few days.

Before going live, you’ll need to create a product playlist using Commerce Manager. Then, you can go live from your Facebook Page on your mobile device or desktop. If you’re wondering how to do live selling on Facebook or how to sell clothes on Facebook live, you can check out Facebook’s instructions here.

Other requirements for the Live Shopping event include,

• The person who manages the live from Facebook must be the "Administrator" of the page to access the Live Producer tool, which is in the "Live" section.
• In "Live Shopping", select "Activate Live Shopping".
• You will be able to choose a playlist of products to show in the video during the live
• When you are ready, activate the live video
• When the video launches, you'll be able to showcase the featured products during the social Live Shopping event

Instagram Live Shopping

When it comes to Live Shopping, Instagram should be top of your list. Businesses in the US using Instagram can tap into the sales-driving power of deepening audience connections through live video. To sell during a broadcast, you will need a business account. The "Shopping" function integrates your Instagram store. As with a live on Facebook, you will need to set up a checkout on your Instagram profile first.

• Additionally for this to work you will need to,
• Save a collection of up to 30 products to offer during the live
• Click on "Add to your story".
• Then, launch the "Live" function
• You can tag products during the broadcast. An "Add to Cart" icon will then appear for participants to purchase live

Amazon Live Shopping

You can use Amazon Live in one of two ways:

• The Amazon Live Creator app allows you to produce Live Shopping streams that showcase your product and offer in-stream exclusives.
• Amazon can feature your products in a themed Amazon-produced livestream, which appears in placements across the website. This option can boost your reach during events, holidays, and special shopping days, like Back to School and Black Friday.

E-commerce Live Shopping

Beyond the big names, there are Live Shopping platforms that allow you to reach your audience via your website and other channels. One such platform is Aploze by iAdvize. The Live Shopping industry leader empowers retailers and consumers with immersive and interactive digital shopping experiences. The high-tech solution integrates directly with your e-commerce store for a seamless, friction-free UX.

It integrates with 80% of existing e-commerce solutions and allows you to build a global Live Shopping strategy. It allows you to launch lives from your online store and on your social networks. This has slightly different steps then the traditional channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon.

Before your Live Shopping event:

• Customize the interface to match your brand image
• Create a teaser before the event as well as a landing page of presentation
• Offer notifications to alert users in compliance with RGPD

During the Live Shopping event:

• Set up the Live Shopping experience according to your objectives
• Broadcast it directly from your site and in multistream on your social networks
• Integrate a catalog of product sheets straight into the livestream
• Benefit from the synchronization of shopping carts
• Use One-to-Many chat and advanced moderation
• Offer a premium immersive experience with 1-click purchases

After the Live Shopping event:

• The replay is instant. Continue to sell through the recorded content and capitalize on it. Potential buyers who weren't able to attend the live event will still be able to take advantage and buy
• Own video stories by product pages as well.
• Analyze the live performance to organize and improve your next Live Shopping event if needed

Human-to-human connection is the crux of live retail, so the face of your livestream matters. You’ll want to work with someone your audience can relate to — someone they can trust. In some cases, that might involve working with an influencer.
The influencer industry is big business, with a value expected to exceed $15 billion by 2022. But Live Shopping is a unique facet of the dynamic role of the influencer. It demands real-time performance, and there’s little room for error. What’s more, the mood must be upbeat. Enthusiasm is contagious, and not all high-flying influencers have the skills to sell on the spot.
So, if you plan to collaborate with an influencer, do your research. Find out who your audience trusts and follows. Then, assess whether their on-screen personality will do your product justice.

Preparation is key to a successful Live Shopping strategy. Before you go live for the first time, sort out the logistics:

• Set the time of day. Consider when your audience is most active on your chosen platform. Then, think about when you and your team can realistically go live — just because your audience is online at 9 p.m. on a Sunday doesn’t mean your in-house social expert is available. When you commit to a time, aim to keep it consistent in the future. If you go live at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday one week, do the same the following week. In other words, set audience expectations and follow through.
• Ensure you can get hold of your products. You want your products on-hand before you hit live. If that means you have to place an order, do so well in advance of go-time. Also, consider the theme of your shopping event and curate a collection of products to match. For example, if you’re running a Live Shopping event that is a guide for potential gifts to give to your close friend and family, consider showcasing products that fit different budgets.
• Test run before the real deal. If you are new to livestreaming, you’ll want to set up your gear (camera, mic, etc.) and test that each works properly before your first Live Shopping event. Technology tends to play up at the worst possible times, so do what you can beforehand to mitigate this risk.

You want as many potential customers as possible to tune into your Live Shopping event, so promote it across your platforms. Include the time and date in several social media posts. Send out a dedicated EDM and highlight the stream in your email newsletter. If you’re going live on Facebook or Instagram, encourage your audience to follow your page so that they’re notified when you go live.

The value of live shopping for retail consumers is the human interaction. In addition to answering audience questions during the stream, make a follow-up plan. Check your direct messages during and after a livestream, and be sure to respond to each one. Look through the comment section and reply to questions and concerns. You can even ask questions yourself in the stream or comments area to request feedback, prompt suggestions, and keep the conversation flowing.

Live Shopping fosters connection. It empowers buyers to engage with the shopping process in a deeper way, further personalizing their e-commerce experience. It lifts the curtains on your brand and your products, providing an authentic point of contact that cuts through the noise and stands out. It brings human interaction to online shopping in an increasingly isolated retail environment. And like working from home and other newly adopted, post-pandemic behaviors, it’s likely to stick.

Do you want to enrich your digital customer journey with Live Shopping? Make conversational commerce a new acquisition channel and boost your online sales? Contact iAdvize now and experience a Live Shopping event with our Aploze platform demo. You can also register for the dedicated webinar replay.