How real time video can help traditional retailers to sell more online

Most people like to shop. According to Ryan Howell, an associate professor of psychology at San Francisco State University in California, the impulse to buy comes from people’s survival instincts: many years ago, when people saw something they wanted, they had to grab it because they would probably never come across it again.

Understanding “what”, “where”, “how” and “when” are key to building a rewarding buyer journey.

Today consumers don’t have time to go to physical stores, whereas shopping online is convenient and available 24/7. But what are the real e-commerce advantages that online-only retailers have compared with bricks-and-mortar retailers?

Reduce shopping cart abandonment

It is obvious that the variety of products online is bigger and typically prices are lower due to less overheads for online stores. But online consumers know that they can make the purchase at anytime, so they feel no urgency, and are more likely to abandon their shopping cart before finalizing the sale. Also when people pay with cash or credit card in a physical store there is more direct human contact. This is a transparent way to make transactions and reassures consumers. So how to encourage customers to buy more online?

Online stores are always improving. Testers are checking customers preferences and improving the buying experience. E-tailers elaborate algorithms to align customers’ behaviour, helping them to find products that are similar.

But even the best algorithms are still not as dynamic as human contact and cannot be compared with communicating with a real in-store sales expert. In the last few years the role of the in-store sales representative has changed. Bricks-and-mortar stores build consumer confidence and foster trust, largely based on the expertize and knowledge of the sales representative.

Using real time video to increase engagement

Modern retail includes both business models: online and offline. Basically that means the retailer has a website and a physical store. According to an eyeviewdigital.com study using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80%. Moreover, using live streaming video increases engagement rate even more because people want to know what will happen next.

One of the big advantages of having physical stores is that the customer can ask in-store representatives for an expert opinion and help.

Now retailers can also do it online.

Whisbi’s real time video engagement solution

Whisbi is transforming online assets by connecting web visitors in real time to in-store experts in physical shops, showrooms or contact centers. Customers can see products and offers through web sharing or real time video while talking on the phone with an in-store expert. Customers can literally see the products online through the eyes of the expert. The expert is based in a store or showroom, and using the camera of a smartphone (or other digital cameras) to share live video in real time with the customer.

If you enjoyed this article you might find this post about targeting online shopper profiles interesting.

Whisbi Marketing Team

Our Marketing Team is always trying to give our readers fresh industry related content that keep the reader up to date and transfers the knowledge on how to improve the customer experience for Enterprise.