When many brands had to close stores during the pandemic, marketers increasingly experimented with another way to reach customers and drive sales: the live broadcast, also known as live shopping.
This medium is more than just a reinvention of home shopping—live shopping is about building community and engagement in ways that weren’t previously available with ecommerce. As creative lead, luxury fashion at Meta Creative Shop Alexandra Tyler says, “There is an increasing demand for authenticity with consumers. And there is nothing more ‘real’ than going live.”
By providing an opportunity for instant connection and interaction in moments when people are ready to take action, marketers should consider live commerce as a key part of their mix as they look to connect with customers. Here are three reasons why live shopping is popular with both brands and customers.
Deepen customer relationships
Live shopping events provide a unique opportunity for brands to enhance their appeal with customers and create even more meaningful and long-lasting relationships with them.
Luxury lifestyle brand Kate Spade New York is known for its playful wink. So, when it hosted a recent live shopping event, the brand delighted fans by featuring a cast of adoptable cats and kittens alongside a store associate, who acts as the brand’s ambassador and celebrity host. In addition to curating cat-themed products from the current in-store collection, the live shopping event was done in partnership with Greenpoint Cats, a Brooklyn-based rescue organization.
There is an increasing demand for authenticity with consumers. And there is nothing more ‘real’ than going live.
Alexandra Tyler, Meta Creative Shop
The “retail-tainment” live stream transformed this moment from a simple transaction into a meaningful opportunity to connect with and entertain customers while supporting an organization driving positive community impact. Event viewers were not only able to learn about new and relevant products, but they were also introduced to playful kittens, who interacted in charming ways with the host. The event proved to be just as successful for Greenpoint Cats, with nearly all the cats featured in the live shopping event being adopted.
Increase engagement and reach new customers
Live shopping events can help you drive sales, increase engagement on your owned sites and apps, and reach new audiences. Some companies are even able to increase engagement from younger audiences by up to 20%, according to McKinsey.
For example, the QVC and HSN teams produced “Shop With Us Live,” a weekend-long event with over 200 hours of live video shopping that streamed on platforms including Facebook Live, TikTok and YouTube, as well as the retailers’ streaming service, websites and mobile apps. The event featured celebrities, influencers, fashion designers, chefs and other notable figures showcasing a dynamic range of items, allowing customers to find exclusive deals and explore a universe of products that interested them.
Drive consideration and purchase
Much like how a conversation between a customer and a staff member in a retail store may help drive a final purchase decision, live commerce can introduce timely information and special offers to guide customers along their purchasing journey faster. In fact, companies hosting live events report conversion rates up to 30%, which is up to 10 times higher than in traditional ecommerce, according to McKinsey.
Global fitness brand and managed media partner Peloton found this to be the case with the recent launch of its new private label apparel. The Instagram Live shopping event resonated with consumers and shoppers alike, reaching 29,000 viewers, including 26,000 people who weren’t following Peloton. It represented the No. 1 Instagram Live shopping moment for second-by-second sales across similar brand activations in the month of September, with total sales on Peloton’s Apparel Shop increasing 63 times over the prior seven-day average.
Live shopping is transforming how we shop, providing businesses and shoppers with a new personal experience that was previously missing from ecommerce. The three reasons above aim to show why this transformation is being embraced so rapidly by brands and customers alike.
What’s most exciting is the possibility that the live shopping experience today is just the beginning. Imagine a future where live shopping can happen across more platforms and in more moments and places. At Meta, we envision a metaverse future, where physical and digital shopping are closely intertwined and instantly experienced, sparking memorable connections between brands and customers that last.
