Social Shopping 3.0: What’s next for retailers?
2 mins read
August 10, 2022
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Even after 2 years of turbulence, luxury retail brands in all categories: goods and experiences, are reporting higher revenues powered by the dynamism of local consumption, particularly in China and the US. However, the crisis has marked a turning point for retailers: consumers now need more personalisation than ever and new digital trends have emerged. It’s all about mastering the craft and being able to deliver proper messaging to your target audience. Essentially, it represents a shift in power from brands and retailers to consumers. We’ve interviewed experts to share their experiences and knowledge with us about Live Video Shopping, Live Streaming and more related topics. In this dedicated ebook we’re taking an in depth look at where Live Video is going, which brands are already taking advantage, and what the best approach is to accelerate in this field.
The evolution of Live Video Shopping: look how far we’ve come
Let’s start from the beginning, where is Live Video Shopping rooted? In 2016, social retail giant Taobao pioneered livestreaming e-commerce in China. Taobao invented an entirely new way to do e-Commerce: mixing the social component of live streaming video with an e-Commerce store that allowed viewers to make real-time purchases. Due to the pandemic, this new channel became super popular, super fast. That’s because social shopping combines video, content and the ability to bring the in store experience online, where viewers can actually talk to a brand expert. Nearly one-third of Americans have tuned in to shopping live streams, according to Coresight’s Fenyo, and close to half of them made a purchase.
How Social commerce is helping brands and retailers increase sales
Like expert Marc Sorli from Multiplica said: ‘’The biggest advantage of shopping live is the combination of brand content and interaction: users can interact with the screen and brands can use that interaction any way they want. What we’re offering our clients is the broad spectrum of possibilities live shopping has to offer, whether it’s about sales conversions or getting information about the users preferences. If you take that interaction and combine it with the right content generation, they conclude in perfect harmony and it results in a purchase.”
Once upon a video: how storytelling helps Social Shopping
According to influencer Francisco Mahfuz the biggest asset of selling through video is that it helps shorten the sales cycle substantially. His focus is on storytelling, in any way shape or form – could be through text, video or podcasts.
Storytelling through video is a marketing technique that utilizes the naturally engaging video format to tell a story about a brand, company, or product. Through relatable narrative-based content, video storytelling takes viewers to the core of their pain points, ignites an emotional connection, and offers a satisfying solution.
There are parts of the customer journey particularly for certain types of products where all you want is just talk to somebody. You don’t want to go to their website, look through five different pages and end up sending an email where you will get a reply after a few hours or days. You want to get more information on the spot. A lot of companies make it very difficult to just talk to an expert. Finding different ways to allow that engagement to happen that is more satisfactory for customers or potential customers is definitely something that most companies could benefit from. Social commerce helps companies as a solution to engage easier with customers and for them to be able to talk to a brand expert in real time.
Implementing Live Video Shopping post pandemic, this is how you do it
Expert Marc Sorli has his own vision about what will happen in the live video department: ‘’There’s such a huge change to come. For starters, I think that all call centers are going to become streaming centers. Video calls generate a more empathetic conversation which, mixed with the possibility of sharing content and documents during the call, raises both the engagement and conversion. A video operator with a live shopping solution such as Whisbi sells much more than a phone operator. It’s a true game-changer – for everyone.’’
Interested in more insights, download the full guide below!
