Livestream Shopping for Trade Shows & Exhibitions – The Future Trend

We began by hopping into our vehicles or taking public transportation to make purchases at a shopping mall, then we shifted to shopping online, then shopping on social media posts from our smartphones, and now, live shopping for trade shows and exhibitions is the next step in the evolution of shopping. Exhibitors and virtual trade show organizers are integrating live video streaming in order to create a live shopping experience. It offers merchants a way to bring the in-store experience online simply by showcasing shoppable content. Customers no longer have to read product descriptions and search the internet looking for customer reviews – they can now participate in a live video broadcast and ask questions about products before purchasing directly from the broadcast. Do you know, Livestream is the best option than the pre-recorded one? Before getting into the Livestream shopping, let’s read about the difference between Livestream vs Pre-recorded sessions here

Why Livestream shopping for trade shows & exhibitions? 

• With live shopping, we’re able to recreate the in-store experience as closely as possible, allowing consumers to ask questions and interact directly with your brand representatives in 3D online trade show booths. 
• Customers have the opportunity to interact with brands, influencers, and experts through exclusive content. It is live, so there is a time sensitivity to urge customers to act quickly.  

• Effective live presentations in booths are sure to entice your buyers to make a purchase -delivering the instant gratification people expect and want nowadays.    
• Having real-time conversations with 360° product displays with the audience enhances customer satisfaction and creates a sense of increased connection rather than submitting a contact form on a website or contacting customer service by email. 
• Livestream shopping for fairs has become more appealing to both online and brick-and-mortar shoppers, whether it is viewed as entertainment, a pastime, or a way to experience a more interactive shopping experience due to the current economic climate. 
• Livestream shopping for trade shows or exhibitors gives you an opportunity to speed up the selling process of items and boost your sales volume. 

Livestream Shopping for Trade Shows & Exhibitors –Trends to be predicted in 2022 

Live stream shopping for trade shows is energetic, extremely entertaining, and slightly chaotic, which might not resonate well with every shopper from all over the world. In the past, brands have faced this problem because they didn’t want to alienate their consumers with a format that did not fit their brand image (e.g. luxury brands). 

It has been proven in 2021 that the brands that have created their own format and rewritten the rules have the best results! The brand, Very UK, used two influencers who were friends to complement the collection and match outfits for different occasions (Binky Felstead and Ollie Locke from Made in Chelsea). By doing this, the exhibition served more as a styling experience rather than a traditional sales event. It is expected that brands will expand on this concept in 2022, becoming more experimental and creative. 

Scaled-up & consistent live shopping 

Some brands use live commerce for one-off events or major sales periods such as Black Friday, Christmas, or new collections. We expect to see brands integrate Livestream shopping for trade shows as a consistent and scaled-up cog in their marketing wheels in 2022, even though these have been highly effective. There will be a more constant flow of live content along with exclusive one-off events such as product launches and collaborations with influencers. 

Platforms such as HexaFair allow brands to scale up their live commerce offering by easily enabling the creation of a seamless Livestream fairs experience that can be managed in-house by the brand, without the need to outsource to agencies. This means that brands can host live shopping shows and exhibitions as often as they want to! 

Live shopping will connect the online and offline worlds of commerce 

It is possible for some brands to have an amazing offline presence, with beautiful flagship stores and knowledgeable store representatives. Some brands have an immersive and interactive online experience that is much digitalized. Few brands are able to combine the two!  

Livestream shopping for fairs allows brands to combine both worlds by leveraging online live events with their stores. Ralph Lauren collaborated with Smartzer to create an immersive, interactive, shoppable video tour of their flagship store in Milan last year. Eventually, we envision that this exhibition has a dedicated booth for live shopping, where in-store agents can help style new collections, as well as allow customers to try on their favourite items! Consumers will benefit from such an experience not only in terms of bringing them to stores but also providing instant links to purchase products for those in the online community. 

Tips for Hosting Quality Livestream Shopping for Trade Shows 

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.  

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 Livestream shopping for trade shows 

Marketing your Livestream shopping for trade shows 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 shopping for a virtual trade show on 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 Livestream shopping for trade shows, 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 Livestream shopping for fairs is here to stay. For further guidance or support do contact the HexaFair team.