Live commerce is gearing up in the eCommerce industry.
In 2018, Qurate Retail Group that owns the brands such as QVC, Zulily, HSN, and more, rebranded itself by coming up with a “third way to shop.”
This “third way to shop” concept is beyond physical retail and e-commerce.
Looking at Qurate, Amazon launched Amazon Live in 2019.
Amazon Live is a platform where the sellers can post the product-based videos, either direct or live streaming. The customers can see the videos on Amazon.com/live, product detail pages, and a seller’s store.
Image Credits: Amazon Live
Live commerce seems to be the next big thing in the e-commerce industry.
But, what exactly this live commerce is, and how an e-commerce industry can take the benefit out of it, is what we are going to discuss further in detail.
What is live commerce?
Live commerce or live video streaming commerce is a service that you offer to your sellers to sell their products faster using live video streaming. This definition of live commerce can be for marketplaces.
But, if you are a retail brand, you use Live video e-commerce to inspire your buyers to make purchases.
In short, Live commerce is a way to sell your products using live video streaming.
Live commerce market forecasting
Apart from Qurate and Amazon, many e-commerce brands have started utilizing Live commerce to spoon-fed information, buyers are looking for before making the purchase.
Countries such as the US, China, and even India have brands who have shifted their focus on offering an alternative way of selling products.
China remains the top country that saw a massive hit with Live commerce. The e-commerce market giant of China, Alibaba, records the total sales of US$ 17.7 billion, 32% more than last year by broadcasting a “See now, Buy now” fashion show.
Most brands such as Taobao (Alibaba’s platform) consider Live e-commerce as even the Virtual Reality (VR) that gives your customers the real feel of the products.
The year 2019 seems to be more of Live commerce than just physical retail and e-commerce.
For which industries live commerce is good:
Are you wondering whether Live commerce is beneficial for your business or industry? Then, check out whether your industry exists in the list below:
1. Fashion & beauty
The fashion industry includes everything from clothing, eyewear, shoes to accessories. If your business falls under the fashion industry, you can see higher conversions instantly with Live commerce.
The same is the case with the beauty industry. Whether you have skin, beauty, and cosmetic products for men or women, Live commerce should be in your next target list.
2. Electronics & gadgets
Electronic is the second highest profit-earning segment in the e-commerce and even retail industry.
Whether you sell TV sets, PS3 games, smartphones, laptops, or any such electronic gadgets, you have to bring Live commerce to see more sales.
3. Home decor & furnishing
Home decor and furnishing industry need more creative ways to showcase their products and inspire customers to buy them.
Live commerce can make selling your products online and even offline easier.
4. Kids and baby essentials
Most brands sell products that are specific to kids and babies. If you are among them, Live video commerce can help your audience to make informed decisions and make purchases instantly. After all, parents want to make sure of everything before buying any product for their children.
5. Stationery supplies
You can easily promote any product that belongs to stationery with the help of live video streaming. Make sure you start using Live commerce before your competitors do.
6. Food products
Showcasing how your food products can make yummilicious and mouth-watering recipes using Live commerce, you can earn higher revenues.
7. Healthcare product
Everything from medication, yoga to other healthcare essentials can be explained amazingly with the help of Live commerce.
Medication and other healthcare essentials always have people in confusion of why to use a product and how to use it. And, Live commerce can help you attract the customers who are in such doubts. Helping your customers with the solutions have higher chances of bringing in loyal customers.
8. Car products and accessories
Car products and accessories is a niche industry where you have higher chances of conversions with Live video streaming commerce.
9. Products
Another niche industry is of pets, and pet lovers are always looking for guides online on how to take good care of their pets. For your pet products industry, Live commerce proves to be a boon as it helps in making your brand a successful one.
10. Grocery products
People now buy every day things online. And, for that, they don’t need inspiration. But, to beat the competition, you need to use Live commerce and inspire your customers to choose you over your competitors.
The list of industries mentioned above are only a few ones. If your business needs to improve conversions, sales, revenues, or outperform the competition, you need Live commerce.
Features of live commerce app:
What do you need in an app to integrate Live commerce? This question may arise when you look forward to developing a Live commerce app.
Whether you already have an e-commerce app or looking to develop a new Live commerce app, you need to know what features your app must have.
Here are the essential features your Live Commerce app should have-
1. Every feature that e-commerce apps have
Live commerce app needs to be exactly the same as an e-commerce app is. It should have all the following features-
- Product pages with high-quality images
- Product description
- User registration
- Login
- Cart management
- Payment gateway
- Order history
- Product reviews and ratings
- And, any feature that is relevant as per your industry and business
Make sure you have these basic e-commerce features before you launch your Live commerce app.
2. Separate app section to view product-based videos
Just like Amazon.com/live, you too need to have a separate section on your Live commerce website and mobile app.
Image Credits: Amazon Live
This section on your Live commerce app helps your customers to go to that section and see different products featuring in the live video streaming.
The way the homepage works for the customers to see what the brand has to offer, Live commerce app section will have the same impact.
3. Recommended products to buy section featured in a Live streaming video
When a user views a live streaming video on your e-commerce app, there should be a horizontal scrolling feature showcasing the products highlighted in the video.
Here is an example from Amazon Live-
Image Credits: Linkyo Products on Amazon Live
Looking at the video, if the users want to make a purchase, they do not have to go to any other page. They can view the product there and then and even make the purchase without any delay.
4. Videos on product-detail page
What if a user lands directly on the product page? You cannot compromise on getting conversions through your live videos.
That’s the reason why you need a section on the product-detail page which lists all the videos that features a product.
Image Credits: Linkyo product page on Amazon
Your customers are more likely to see the videos and click the “Buy Now” button.
5. Videos on seller’s store page
If you have multiple sellers on your Live commerce app, each seller must have a section where all the videos by them are available.
See how Amazon have a section for each seller-
Image Credits:Linkyo Store Page on Amazon Live
Customers check out a seller’s store when they are looking to build trust for your brand. So, that is the place where all the videos of a particular seller must have- building trust as well as generating business, everything at one place.
6. A section on homepage showcasing most trending videos
Do you know most e-commerce websites or apps have higher visits using their branded names? Yes, that’s the reason why there are higher chances of people landing on your homepage instead of the product pages.
See how QVC has this section on homepage-
Image Credits:QVC Homepage
When planning the Live video commerce app development, you need to consider having a section on your homepage that features all the popular or most visited videos.
Advantages of live commerce app:
Why should you have a Live commerce app? The answer to this question lies in the benefits of the Live commerce app listed below:
1. Improved brand awareness
With the live video streaming commerce app, you can reach millions of customers who are unaware of your brand/business. The more people will come to know about your brand through videos, the more they will share with others.
If you are a newcomer in the e-commerce industry, you must go for Live video streaming commerce app.
2. Increased conversions
As per Animoto, 96% of buyers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions. That’s the reason why Live commerce app can help you drive more conversions online.
3. Build trust
Another stats by Animoto says that 58% of buyers trust the companies that produce content. So, building trust among your customers becomes easy with a Live commerce app.
4. Outperform competition
Live commerce app is a new concept, and hardly your competitor has explored. This is the time you need to have a Live commerce app and beat the competition as fast as you can.
5. Strengthen ROI
When you have higher conversions and more sales, you are more likely to improve the ROI of your online business. And, Live video streaming platform helps you enhance your ROI YoY.
Top live commerce apps:
Here are the top successful Live commerce apps across the globe:
1. Alibaba
China’s top marketplace, Alibaba, launched their first broadcasting a “See now, Buy now” fashion show on its Tmall platform. On that Singles day, Alibaba saw a total sales of US$ 17.7 billion, 32% more than last year.
2. Taobao
Another C2C marketplace of China is Taobao, which is operated by Alibaba. More than 10,000 celebrities review the products on Taobao using Live video streaming.
3. TMON
Asia’s most significant e-commerce player, TMON, launched a live commerce app called TV ON Live. With this Live commerce shopping, the company saw a 21% conversion ratio and 130 times more revenue.
4. QVC
QVC brand of Qurate launched a live commerce app in 2018, which we discussed in the beginning.
Image Credits: QVC
5. Amazon
Amazon launched Amazon Live, which we already saw in the above the fold of this guide.
6. Kohl
The LC Lauren Conrad by Kohl launched a Live commerce app that showcases the videos consisting of behind-the-scenes and the updates from the New York Fashion Week. The brand wants to give their customers the feel of as if they are watching the show from the front seat.
The purpose was to bring in more sales by connecting marketing to sales using a Live commerce app.
Live commerce is the new way of online shopping
The e-commerce industry is becoming competitive each day. And, to keep up with the competition and survive in the same, you need to come up with something that your customers would embrace.
Live commerce is that new thing. Though Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality seems to be the future of e-commerce, Live ecommerce is the present. You don’t need to invest in such expensive technologies when you can only provide the real feel of the products using live video streaming commerce apps.
Whether you are looking to upgrade your existing e-commerce app with Live commerce or developing a new Live commerce app, we are here to help you with the entire process.
Connect with us with your business requirements and let’s discuss the strategy of your Live video streaming mobile app development now.
