By Neil Patel

Traditional, physical retailers are great at customer service. They can focus on the specific needs of a handful of shoppers at a time, answering their questions and providing bespoke recommendations until browsers are ready to buy.

On the other hand, e-commerce stores have a much broader reach than their brick-and-mortar peers. There’s basically no limit to the number of people they can serve at once, and those people can be anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection.

Livestream shopping effectively combines the two, putting digital retailers in front of a vast online audience while still allowing them to respond to customers on a one-on-one level.

It’s highly effective: Livestream shopping generated $60 billion in global sales in 2019. Yet just $1 billion of that came from the United States, with China dominating the market. Almost one in three Chinese internet users has bought products via live broadcasts that link to a product landing page, according to the Cyberspace Administration of China.

However, the potential upside of livestream shopping means it could be only a matter of time before it starts catching on in the West.

What Is Livestream Shopping?

If you’ve ever watched a home shopping network like QVC, you’re probably familiar with the theory behind livestream shopping. A presenter showcases a product, which you can purchase during the broadcast.

That said, there are a couple of big ways livestream shopping improves upon the traditional home shopping experience.

For one thing, it’s far more interactive. While home shopping channels allow viewers to call in, livestream shopping enables the audience to interact through comments, likes, polls, and more. For example, anyone watching the stream can ask a question about the product or request that the host show it from a different angle.

For another, it’s more convenient. You don’t need to be in front of a TV screen to participate. You could be in a coffee shop or on the bus. Given that a staggering three-fifths of American viewers who watch live TV are aged 55 or over, if you’re trying to reach younger consumers, home shopping networks likely aren’t the answer!

In the United States, livestream shopping is currently used mostly by small, direct-to-consumer brands, including a handful of celebrities like Catherine Zeta-Jones. She sells her line of makeup products via the talkshoplive platform.

Livestream shopping isn’t limited to any specific product category (although it’s almost all B2C). A quick browse of categories on CommentSold, a livestream shopping platform used by more than 3,000 retailers, includes:

• women’s retail
• direct selling
• wholesale
• sports merchandise
• home decor

Livestream Shopping Platforms You Should Know About

Livestream shopping first rose to prominence in China, thanks in part to the existence of fully integrated digital platforms combining e-commerce, payments, and livestreaming. The undisputed market leader is Taobao, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, with …read more

Source:: Kiss Metrics Blog

Author: Aaron