The popularity of livestream shopping for events has been growing over the past few years, and it is not showing any signs of slowing down — it has been hailed as the next big thing in social commerce.
Having started in China, the trend is now spreading across the globe, with more and more brands joining the bandwagon. What is the value of live streaming shopping for events, however?
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What is live stream shopping?
In most cases, Livestream shopping is hosted by an influencer or celebrity. However, recently brands have started using their own employees to leverage their knowledge and expertise of specific products. During the event, the host highlights specific products, which viewers can purchase online immediately.
In addition to watching the stream, audiences can comment in real-time, which further strengthens the relationships between brands and their customers. In a sense, it simulates the in-store shopping experience, where traditional sales were made by discussing products face-to-face.
Use Case for Live Stream Shopping for Events
Livestream shopping for events can reduce barriers to purchase that other e-commerce experiences just aren’t delivering. Virtual try-on sessions, beauty Q&A and in-store demos can help at-home shoppers make decisions faster.
For example,
A grocer could offer Livestream shopping sessions with ideas and inspirations for recipes or holiday-related events. Whether it’s crafting the perfect game-day spread, a backyard BBQ, or a holiday dessert bar, hosts can offer tips, answer questions about dietary alternatives and make complementary product recommendations.
A home improvement retailer could walk viewers through its latest garden centre offerings for a specific region while answering customer questions about products in real-time, building trust and engagement. Viewers can add products to their cart directly from the live stream and select curbside delivery for a seamless end-to-end experience.
This is just an instance of two cases, even all the retail sellers can be able to step up their events in this Livestream shopping world. All you have to do is, choose from a range of themes & venues, lobby, auditorium, and booth designs offered by HexaFair and showcase your business with ease.
Benefits of Live Streaming Shopping for Events
Live stream shopping for events can be an affordable way to quickly give your sales a boost, build brand awareness and find new customers. It’s a fun and entertaining way for people to get to know your products and your business, and become involved with what you do.
Also, it can be viewed as a digital read of a proven selling approach of the past – teleshopping channels, and we know how big that trend was in the ‘90s.
Here are some of the most lucrative advantages of live stream shopping for events.
- Provides a digitalized brick-and-mortar experience
- Generate enormous sales
- Build brand awareness
- Boost sales volume of underperforming products
So, with this in mind why can’t you host a live streaming shopping for events?
Tips for Hosting Quality Live Streaming Shopping for Events
Know who your target audience is
Knowing your target audience is essential for any form of marketing or communication with your customers. What are they looking for? How old are they? What are their buying habits? What forms of social media are the most likely to use?
Questions like these (and more!) will help you efficiently analyze your audience and connect with them in a way that truly resonates. Plus, it’s a well-known fact that consumers are looking for personalization more and more. Over 90% of consumers have said they’re more likely to shop with a brand that provides personal and relevant recommendations.
Bringing personalization into your live streams by inviting members of your audience to specific streams based on their buying trends can help you stand out from the crowd.
Choose the right format
Depending on who your target audience is, you’ll need to choose the best way to interact, whether it’s an interview with an influencer, a tutorial, or behind-the-scenes content.
Not sure where to start? Try providing a quick survey on your socials to see what live stream your audience would be most interested in. Additionally, when your live stream has wrapped, it might be a good idea to send out a post-stream email or SMS asking for feedback.
Continuously keeping the pulse on your audience will not only help your brand better identify their wants and needs. It will also keep you in the forefront of their mind as a loyal brand committed to providing positive customer experiences.
Choose your platform
Choosing the right platform is essential to ensure a successful live stream shopping experience. You wouldn’t want to go live on your least-engaged platform, would you? The more you know about where your shoppers are spending the most time, the easier it is to build your live stream around that and meet them right where they are. Plus, every platform has its own value-adds and culture – which means your brand might fit well with some but not all!
In that case, HexaFair will help you in all instances. We offer support to the best live streaming providers like YouTube live streaming, Dacast, Vimeo, Wistia, StreamYard and Mux.
Market your live stream event
Marketing your live stream shopping for events is imperative in getting customers interested enough to check it out. Rather than sending out a mass email to your entire audience, you may want to use segmentation to ping only the most relevant members.
For example, if you’re hosting a live stream for your new version of a product, you can pull up a report of customers who have purchased similar items in the past for personal invitations. Otherwise, you can make sure you’re advertising only to online shoppers who have shown an interest in these types of products.
Review the success of your live stream
Improvement does not come without review! To make sure you’re continuously revamping and boosting your customers’ experience when it comes to live stream shopping for events, you’ll have to track your virtual events and closely analyze the results.
How many customers attended? Were there any customers in different time zones that couldn’t make the stream? Did you get any feedback during the stream about the structure, connection, sound, and more?
Though it is still a relatively new concept in the digital commerce world, it’s clear that live stream shopping for events is here to stay. For further guidance or support do contact HexaFair team.