Weekly News: Live-Streaming and E-Commerce
Are you one of the people who enjoyed watching live-streaming?
Do you ever wonder why people tune in for hours just to watch other people live-streaming their (sometimes random) activities?
There are currently over 200 million live-streaming users in China alone. Analysts suggest that China’s live-streaming industry will see US$5 billion in revenue this year, and could be worth US$12.6 billion by the end of 2020, as reported by Techinasia.
What does it mean for marketers?
Well, remember the time when TV ads are so popular? That’s exactly what this is about, only instead of airing advertisements on the traditional TV, people use live-streaming as the new channel to sell their products online. These real-time demonstrations are highly influential in China, where mobile devices account for the majority of all e-commerce sales.
The Appeal of Live-Streaming
Online shopping has been an inherently transactional experience, but today’s digital shoppers are looking for more than that.
What makes live-streaming so appealing for brands and consumers alike? Here’s what we thought.
1. Authenticity
Authenticity is what makes the live-streaming experience so enticing. There is no editing, photoshopping, touch-ups, or second takes with live-streaming. As digital consumers becoming more ad-resistant, it’s only natural that they appreciate the raw experience that came from watching these broadcasters whom they can relate to.
2. Convenience
Many e-commerce platforms with live-streaming integration are very convenient. They offer an all-in-one shopping experience, from browsing, reading reviews, to making the actual purchases. Content creators on Shopee Live, for example, can showcase their products in real time and answer viewers’ questions. The audiences can also buy these items without leaving the stream.
(Read also our articles on Shopee here!)
3. Engaging experience
Live-streaming platforms are often integrated with various features, such as replaying recent streams in case the audience miss them or scheduling certain events using bots. All of these features serve to build a more engaging experience for the audience. Moreover, various e-commerce sites are also building in-app live-streaming tools to cater to mobile users.
4. Community
As we mentioned earlier, many of the live-streaming audiences are looking beyond a transactional experience. They are looking to be entertained and to engage with the online community. That’s why, a lot of e-commerce websites work to enhance the shopping experience by integrating other elements such as entertainment, social features, and the overall atmosphere that customers usually find in regular brick-and-mortar stores.
5. Emotional experience
Live-streaming creates a sense of emotional intimacy between shoppers and sellers. You realize that a lot of people often go shopping with their friends (at least for us), right? It’s the same thing with retail shopping via live-streaming.
As digital experience increasingly becomes modern society’s primary experience, live-streaming platforms are working hard to foster connections with their audience by interacting with them in real time. As a result, most broadcasters successfully deliver a more engaging and satisfying experience for them.
6. Wider reach
With offline stores, sellers and marketers are kind of tied to a specific region to market their products and services. Live-streaming meanwhile allows sellers to reach beyond their borders, enabling them to sell to customers from other countries.
The Future of Live-streaming and E-commerce
As demand for content increases and mobile penetration rises, many marketers believe that the live-streaming phenomenon will continue to play a significant role in driving the e-commerce industry.
At the same time, online shopping businesses with mobile platforms will have to come up with more innovative ways to become even more interesting and appealing to users on the go.
Our Thoughts
While most live-streaming platforms in the West are focused on gaming and entertainment, live-streaming is the “go-to” option for Chinese consumers when seeking out new products and deciding on what to buy. As such, live-streaming is one of the primary mediums for influencer marketing in e-commerce industry there.
Viral Access believes e-commerce live-streaming will only become even more popular. Similar to the online-offline “New Retail” integration happening in the retail industry, live-streaming has enormous potential to become the norm for commerce, bridging online and offline experiences.
=======================================
Viral Access is an AI and data-driven social communication company — we help you tell your story through social media. We pair your brand with relevant micro and nano influencers that help you increase awareness, engagement and conversion. We have the systems and team in place to support large scale communications throughout Asia.
For business inquiries, contact us at: info@viralaccess.asia.
