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Livestream shopping – is it the next big thing in retail?

Livestream shopping evolved from the Chinese eCommerce industry and is the next big thing to enter the rest of the world. It is already a billion-dollar industry that influences markets, entertainment, live videos, promotions, and infinite avenues to engage the audience online. This has promoted infomercials to the forefront of the advertising industry but is more than just advertising. Livestream makes the whole experience of shopping online more interactive, personal, and easier. Livestreaming allows one to reach their audiences across the globe and to all people interested in attending the event without worrying about venue space.

Benefits of Livestream shopping

The benefit of using Livestream shopping is the ability to ultimately advertise the products to an online audience. The audience gets a product demonstration and can even interact with the product through a live experience. Promoters interact directly with the customers with the help of chats, online videos, and other features. As the whole experience is live, it allays the fears in the mind of the buyer that there is any manipulation or trickery with imagery and the settings.

Any brand can also develop interpersonal relationships with their customers, just like they do in physical retail with the help of Livestream. This helps the brand build a good reputation as the audience confidently buys the product. And all this without having to immerse themselves into the time pressures of guidance provided with Livestream shopping. Such relationship building with the customer quite obviously boosts the sales of the product while the audience is also engaged and entertained in the process.

Where is Livestream being implemented and how?

Livestream at present is implemented across Europe, America, while it originated in China. Various Chinese celebrities and influencers are already producing live content and promoting it via social media to show their products to their audience. Their market is already worth $66 billion which could double to $170 billion by the end of the year. The Chinese state is promoting it by calling it the new engine of eCommerce growth and treating it as a solution to unemployment that has risen sharply due to the pandemic.

The incredible success of the methodology in China only makes sense for other world-leading selling platforms and organizations to join the fray and gain from it. Platforms across the US and Europe like Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and more have already implemented Livestream shopping to their shopping experience portfolios. Forbes has also claimed that Amazon Live is the future of eCommerce and will play a significant role in being the world leader in online shopping. The involvement of media giants like Facebook and Amazon is paving the way to Livestream shopping for other brands that follow in their footsteps.

Versions of Livestream shopping

Any company may adopt a variety of versions available of Livestream shopping. The easiest one of them that most newcomers generally prefer is the one-to-many Livestream. It is structured like an advertisement pitch rather than a one-to-one conversation with the customer. The products through it are marketed by an influencer or a celebrity to an online mass audience. This version of Livestream allows the advertiser to target the specific product while catering to the needs of the consumer and interests. The one-to-many method provides confidence to the customer to pick up the product.

The one-to-one Livestream version of advertising adopts a more personal approach that is specific to each customer. It is conducted as a private dialogue between the customer and the product expert. The customer can ask questions about the product and get a detailed and immediate response that reassures them of the product. This method provides higher conversion rates, better order values, and increases the chances of a customer’s repeat order or return to the brand. This method addresses the particular needs of the customer in detail and helps them invest their money in the right product and brand.

The use of professional services

While many companies opt to create their servers at present, there are many benefits of using professionals to broadcast an event for Livestream services. Setting up Livestream on your own will require some technical skills and experience in handling these services, which might be difficult for an average businessperson. Many media systems provide one with space on a server to set up the systems but it is a complicated and expensive way to conduct business. The easiest and most economical way is to hire a professional live streaming service to broadcast the live event.

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