To keep up with consumer demand and expectations, in today’s digital era, retail businesses have to continuously offer new and more engaging shopping experiences. One big game changer that revolutionized how people shop and transformed the e-commerce industry is Live Commerce.
What is Live Commerce?
Live commerce, or what many call livestream shopping, is a marketing technique that combines live streaming and online shopping together. Businesses would hold livestream events online via digital platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, to promote and sell their product. This enables viewers to interact with the brand in real time, making shopping and ultimate purchase more convenient.
The Success of Live Commerce
Live Commerce rose to popularity in Asia after Alibaba initiated the concept through Taobao Live a few years ago. The interactive format and instantaneous purchase feature has completely changed the retail sector, becoming an irreplaceable selling channel. In a short span of 4 years (2017-2020), an annual growth rate of over 280 percent clearly shows how successful live commerce is in the country.
Following Alibaba, many Western brands also started adopting the live commerce approach to showcase their product, which opened them to many new opportunities. For example, Tommy Hilfiger, a clothing brand, was able to sell 1,300 hoodies in just two minutes during one live session. Walmart reported that their TikTok follower base increased by 25% after the live.
Utilizing Live Commerce
While Live Commerce has shown its success in China, there is still a slow development in other regions due to the lack of awareness. For instance, 43% of US consumers are not familiar with livestream shopping.
Despite live commerce being able to gain its foothold in Asian markets, other consumers are still skeptical of this new medium. There is still a lot of room for foreign markets to work on increasing sales by utilizing livestream. The first start would be to raise awareness and convince people that it is a reliable platform, just like any other innovation before this.
In fact, the conversion rate for live commerce is 10 times higher than traditional e-commerce. Some early adopters have already reached remarkable results. It now depends on others whether they will stay where they are or follow the lead to maximize the benefits of this new technique, Live Commerce.
Reference List
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/its-showtime-how-live-commerce-is-transforming-the-shopping-experience
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/ready-for-prime-time-the-state-of-live-commerce
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/livestream-shopping-statistics/