The COVID-fueled rise of online shopping has forced brands to think outside the box and offer additional, more engaging channels. While live shopping has been around for decades, the latest advancements in technology and the penetration of social media propelled its growth, making it an important tool in every marketer’s toolbox.

Now, brands are grappling with the question: How can we cater to customers’ needs and make the most of live shopping? Enter influencer marketing. In this article, we’ll look at the benefits and best practices of live shopping. And also share a step-by-step guide to help you leverage influencers in your efforts.

What is Live Shopping?

Live shopping (live selling and livestreaming commerce) uses video content on digital and social platforms to promote or sell products and services in real-time. Brands use live shopping to interact with their customers and present products in a dynamic, contextual format. In some cases, they partner with influencers who run the livestreams and try to boost sales thanks to their popularity and existing audiences who trust their reputations.

The roots of this concept date back to the ‘80s and home shopping channels on TV. Today, this format has shifted to a digital context, allowing more interactive communications thanks to new platforms and social media. As a result, users can engage with the seller and almost instantly purchase any offer, greatly facilitating a more straightforward buying process.

The Rise of Live Shopping

Live shopping is (and has been) extremely popular in China for many years now. According to eMarketer’s forecast, live shopping will account for 19.2% of retail ecommerce sales in China this year. Total sales will rise from $562.62 billion in 2023 to $843.93 billion in 2025.

Outside of China, there’s no doubt the pandemic accelerated the growth of live shopping. Data from McKinsey shows the pandemic prompted a surge of new consumer activities, with an astonishing 75% of US consumers trying a new shopping behavior in response to economic pressures.

The COVID-related shutdowns and quarantines were strong catalysts for pushing innovation around new ways of shopping. And once people experienced the convenience of live shopping, there was no going back. In fact, the US livestream commerce market is estimated to hit $25 billion by 2023, according to Coresight Research.

When looking at the various categories where live shopping has found a foothold, the verticals where brands have found success seem to vary based on geographic location. However, one category that stands out as successful within the live shopping context across different countries is clothing. According to McKinsey, clothing was the most popular live shopping category in Europe, the United States, and Latin America.

Why brands are investing in live shopping

The next question is: What makes brands invest in live shopping?

Looking at results from Statista, more than half (52%) of global businesses using live shopping said they looked to improve the shopping experience and generate customer engagement and feedback (aside from the most obvious use case: to generate revenue.)

Other reasons for investing in live shopping include:

• following the latest digital trends (47%)
• customer acquisition (41%)
• collaboration with influencers(41%)
• co-branding with suppliers and brands (36%)

Publicis is one agency testing live shopping with its clients. In an article from Modern Retail, Allysun Lundy, the VP head of retail media strategy at Publicis Commerce, said:

Translation: Brands are looking into live shopping as a more engaging, human-first way to sell to shoppers, in a format that’s more frictionless, more user-friendly, and overall, more fun.

The profile of buyers interested in live shopping

Consumers who are interested in live shopping have a few things in common. These commonalities are important for brands looking to capture a specific demographic of shoppers, as this avenue for driving revenue is still new and largely underutilized. There’s a real opportunity for brands to get ahead of the curve with this emerging medium for sales.

Based on demographic data, McKinsey explored a few patterns and behaviors and found the average age of live shoppers globally averaged between 33 and 36 years old. Shoppers aged 25 to 34 made up the largest share of frequent live shopping users. This means brands looking to connect with Gen Z and Millennials should seriously consider live shopping to drive sales.

Men and women are nearly equal participants in live shopping, with only slight variations on that theme. Looking at the income ranges of average participants, most in the US and Europe had incomes between $25,000 and $50,000. For brands that have this segment of the population as target consumers, live shopping presents a new way to connect with and inspire shoppers (men and women!) who want a more engaging shopping experience.

7 Benefits of Live Shopping for Brands

Marketers are in a race to keep up with channel-hopping customers. Brands are constantly struggling to stay in step and engage them across all platforms. Competition for consumer attention has become more intense in recent years. Consumer attention spans are at an all-time low.

The good news? Live shopping is an engaging way to meet shoppers where they are in real-time and brings key benefits for brands looking to introduce new shopping touchpoints.

A few of them:

1. Raise brand awareness

The first step to convincing customers to buy from you is getting brand awareness. Live shopping has the power to reach a broad audience and help brands get bigger exposure.

2. Offer exclusive discounts

There’s no way around it—customers love discounts. According to Statista, one of the main benefits of livestream shopping was the possibility to access exclusive deals.

3. Help customers make informed decisions

The format of live shopping makes it easy to answer customers’ questions and boost their confidence. Statista shows that 31% of respondents said this purchasing channel enabled them to shop smarter and make more informed buying decisions.

4. Create a personal relationship with your customers

With customer acquisition costs on the rise, brands are looking for ways to create long-term relationships with customers. Here’s where live shopping can help. The two-way communication creates a sense of personal relationship, which leads to getting loyal customers.

5. Lower your return rates

Another big headache for brands is product returns. According to Coresight data, live shoppers are 40% less likely to return an item than other online shoppers.

6. Broadcast to more channels

Brands are always looking for new touchpoints. Nearly six in 10 companies use owned platforms for live streaming to broadcast to more channels and extend their reach, shows Coresight data.

7. Boost your conversion rates

Increasing conversions is one of the top priorities for ecommerce brands. With live shopping, conversion rates are as high as 40%, according to Mary Ghahremani, CEO of live video e-commerce platform provider Bambuser.

5 Live Shopping Best Practices

Most of the brands that are still on the fence about using live shopping think it’s too complicated to start. Quite the contrary: introducing live shopping doesn’t need to feel daunting. You just need to go through the common steps and best practices and just start. After that, you’ll be able to learn from experience and improve for the next live shopping event. Here are five best practices to keep in mind:

1. Choose a platform

First things first: When choosing a platform, think about your goals. If you want to reach a bigger audience, social media might be a wise choice. As it offers an opportunity to co-market live shopping events with partners while leveraging your existing owned audience. If you’re looking for more control and customization over the live shopping experience, you may want to opt into a different avenue outside of platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Here’s some more context to help you figure out what makes sense for your needs.

Social media

Businesses just tipping their toes into live shopping can start small on social media to test the waters. The options are vast.

For example, TikTok has extended its ecommerce capabilities by introducing a feature that lets brands easily incorporate products from their TikTok Shopping experience into a live session. YouTube has partnered with Shopify, allowing merchants to import products from their catalog. Pinterest has also jumped on the bandwagon, introducing Pinterest TV—a curated series of live, original, and shoppable episodes.

Third-party platforms

Brands can also rely on third-party platforms to promote their products with live shopping. These options allow for a more customized experience with advanced features that go beyond what social media platforms offer. Startups like Popshop Live, Buywith, and TalkShopLive, for example, have gained consumer and investor interest in recent years, leading to the expansion of their offerings.

One of the most popular platforms, however, is Amazon Live. Brands selling on Amazon can use live shopping to promote their products and reach more customers with live events where products are showcased in great detail (in a style similar to what we see on a shopping channel like QVC or HSN). Below the live stream, there’s a carousel with the products promoted in the live stream. This allows customers to buy the products they see in use during the live product demo.

An owned live shopping platform

Brands that want to embrace the power of live shopping fully (and have the resources to do so) may choose to create their own versions of a live shopping experience. When companies run live shows on their own websites and apps, they gain access to extensive customer data and comprehensive insights into consumer behavior.

Using this data, they can better understand consumer needs and optimize live shopping experiences, along with the overall customer journey. As a result, brands can drive innovation in their products and marketing strategies. Some of the tools and platforms that allow you to create your own live shopping experience include Bambuser, Livescale, Emplifi, and others.

2. Create a content theme

Once you decide on the platform, it’s time to think about the type of content you want to present. Here are some ideas to get your creative gears turning:

• Exclusive deals and promotions: Offer live shopping participants exclusive discounts and perks they can’t earn through any other medium.
• How-to/demos: Show your products in action so buyers see the benefits, features, and outcomes in a dynamic, visual context.
• Question-and-answer sessions: Provide expert insights into how buyers can get the most out of your products and troubleshoot any questions that may be keeping an interested buyer from following through on the purchase.
• Unveiling of new products: Introduce and make a splash around new product announcements with live events that help build excitement around launch dates.

3. Engage with your audience

What makes live shopping so effective is its ability to foster two-way communication between a brand and its buyers. During live shopping events, address attendees by name, interact with real-time chat and attendee feedback, and allow participants to ask questions. Customers love being heard and appreciated. Live shopping is an opportunity to engage with your audience in an authentic way.

4. Decide on the best timing

Half the battle of hosting successful events is choosing the optimal time. According to McKinsey, the timing of live shows is the most significant barrier to growth in Europe (cited by 29%), the United States (32% of respondents), and Latin America (44%).

If you are unsure of the best timing for your audience, experiment with different days and times to go live. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, so you’ll need to do some trial and error.

5. Partner with influencers

Influencers are ideally situated to be part of live shopping campaigns. They are used to talking live on their social media. And thanks to their experience with live streams, they can create a pleasant and authentic experience for your customers.

On top of that, customers trust product recommendations from influencers. So including them in your live shopping events won’t create a sense of aggressive selling but rather a ‘favorites’ video from an influencer they follow. To find an ideal partner, check out options on a platform like Afluencer where you can sort influencers by location, area of focus, age, and more.

Influencer Marketing and Live Shopping — a Match Made in Heaven

Influencers are ideal partners for brands looking to engage in live shopping efforts for many reasons, including their established influence, ability to leverage storytelling, their eye for content creation, and their level of comfort being on-camera.

But that’s not all. More advantages of combining influencer marketing and live shopping include:

• Niche audiences – If you are working in a specific niche and you are having a hard time reaching your audience, live shopping combined with influencer marketing might be the perfect fit for you. The influencer marketing space is constantly evolving. As reported by Influencer Marketing Hub, brands prefer working with smaller-scale influencers — 39% of brands chose nano-influencers as their most likely partners, followed by 30% opting for micro-influencers. This allows brands to target a niche audience while getting all the benefits that influencer marketing brings.
• Trust – Influencers have gained the trust and credibility of their followers, which makes their recommendations highly influential. Partnering with the right influencers can improve your brand’s reputation and credibility. On top of all the benefits of working with influencers, brands also get to leverage the relationship influencers have with their audience. Instead of starting from scratch or relying on your audience only, working with influencers will put your brand in front of a new audience.
• Creativity – When you rely on your team to organize and host a live shopping event, you do all the heavy lifting. Partnering with influencers means you can focus on the technical stuff and let influencers take over the creative part. It’s a win-win.

How to Leverage Influencers in Your Live Shopping Streams: a Step-by-Step Guide

Live shopping is set to disrupt e-commerce. Brands that know how to use it will have a massive first-mover advantage. Whether you are just starting out or you want to improve your live shopping efforts, here is a step-by-step guide on how to leverage influencers in your live shopping streams:

Find the right influencers

If you’ve ever tried reaching out to influencers, you know how hard it is to find the ones that fit your business. The good news is that you can use influencer management software to scale influencer marketing efforts. 

Tools like Afluencer help you find the right creators, manage your budget effectively, track your campaign’s performance, analyze results, and optimize your influencer marketing strategy. This way, you can achieve your goals while building lasting relationships with influencers.

Send products to influencers

If you want an authentic impression of your products instead of a scripted narrative, you should send out the products to the influencers prior to the live shopping event so that they can have a chance to test them out beforehand. This will ensure that the influencers have enough time to try your products. And then use the live event to highlight the advantages compared to similar products.

Organize a giveaway ahead of the livestream

Another best practice to generate excitement and anticipation for your upcoming live shopping event is collaborating with an influencer to organize a giveaway. By leveraging the social reach and credibility of the influencers you partner with, you can effectively engage your audience and generate buzz around the event, ultimately leading to increased attendance and engagement.

Share an event-exclusive discount code

Boost sales during a live shopping stream by providing influencers with an exclusive, influencer-specific discount code that’s only usable during the live event. This can incentivize the influencer’s followers to take swift action and make a purchase so they don’t miss out on the limited-time offer. To top it off, you’ll be able to easily flag sales that came in as a result of the live shopping stream to measure the effectiveness of the engagement.

Allow influencers to get creative

When working with influencers, communicate the core product features and benefits you want them to share and talk about. However, granting them creative freedom to showcase the product in their distinctive style is crucial. By finding a balance between guidance and artistic license, you can ensure that your product is presented in the best light possible while still enabling the influencer to add their personal touch.

Repurpose content to maximize the effect

To make the most of live shopping, it’s important to repurpose content even after the live event has ended. You can achieve this by using video cuts to promote content on various social media channels. Influencers can also share the video content on their platforms. Additionally, you can create time-limited offers that customers can use after the live stream. Remember, live shopping should be an ongoing effort to maximize its impact.

Use the Power of Influencer Marketing for Your Next Live Shopping Stream

Live shopping is on a quest to become mainstream. The drastic shift to online shopping has cemented new customers’ habits and expectations. But the pandemic only accelerated the inevitable.

The digital-first era, fueled by advanced technologies, will further speed up the adoption of new shopping formats. Live shopping is no exception. It boils down to this:

Live shopping allows brands to offer an interactive and immediate shopping experience that traditional marketing cannot match.

The best part? You can elevate your live shopping by combining it with influencer marketing.

Ready to start? Install the Afluencer app for Shopify here.

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]]> https://afluencer.com/breaking-influencer-news-amazon-live-streaming-googles-shoploop-tiktok-creator-fund-brandconnect-by-youtube/ Thu, 20 Aug 2020 11:00:00 +0000 https://afluencer.com/?p=5246 You know that feeling you get when an unexpected nice-looking package arrives at your door?  There’s really no hiding your childlike excitement as you rip open the box and literally plunge into your goodies – whee!  Dancing star-eye emojis for days. Excitement overload happening right now.  Because we have some breaking news about some big […]

The post BREAKING Influencer News: Reels, Amazon Live-Streaming, Google’s ShopLoop, TikTok Creator Fund & BrandConnect by YouTube appeared first on AFLUENCER.

]]> You know that feeling you get when an unexpected nice-looking package arrives at your door?  There’s really no hiding your childlike excitement as you rip open the box and literally plunge into your goodies – whee!  Dancing star-eye emojis for days.

Excitement overload happening right now.  Because we have some breaking news about some big things that are happening in the influencer universe folks.  Big things that come with new opportunities, creative inspiration, and earning potential.

But before you fall off your chair, whip out your favorite notebook, and get ready to scribble down some epic ideas along the way.

First, a slurp of coffee.

Oh and remember to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to stay up-to-date with the latest news and events in the influencer world.  You can also join our private Facebook Group Afluencer – Hot Brands That Sponsor Influencers for the latest collab opportunities.

Okay.  I’m ready.

We’re about to make some strides with this one.

Update, 20th July 2023: Meta has newly launched a text-based app similar (but better) to Twitter. If you want to know more about it and how to leverage it for your Influencer marketing needs, then check out this article 🢂 The Influencer’s Guide to Threads

Introducing Instagram Reels

Okay.  I’ll skip the small talk and just say it.  Instagram just turned the table around in the TikTok universe.  Yup, influencer folks –  big news on the street is Instagram Reels.  What really is a direct competitor of the sensational entertainment video platform, TikTok.

If you can’t beat them, you join them.  Unless you’re Instagram and owned by Facebook – then you take the competition on.

And for creators and influencers, this news just means more fun.  And more opportunities.  What opportunities?  Keep reading to find out.

How It Works

So ‘grammers, you may have already seen the Reels tab on your Instagram camera.

With Instagram Reels, users can create short 15-second entertaining videos right within Instagram.

Use familiar tools to create multi-clip videos, add effects, search songs from the music library, and edit the speed of the clips.

Sounds like more fun for the Instagram platform, right?

But what’s in it for creators?

Well, for ‘grammers, this is simply an opportunity to reach new audiences.  If your account is public and you post a reel, your content is also discoverable through the Explore page.

This is a game-changer for Instagram creators.

Because as with anything new, this new space is unsaturated.  So, if you’re committed to creating for your audiences and growing your influence, then hop onto Instagram Reels and give it a spin.

And for the rest of us?  Well, lots of laughs and hours of entertainment are in order.

Amazon Launches Live-Streaming for Influencers with Amazon Live Creator App

2020 and its turn of events saw the global e-commerce leader, Amazon, reap a whopping 40% growth in revenue thanks to lockdown shopping in Q2.

Shopping on Amazon literally just ballooned.

With no plans to slow down, the latest lowdown is that they’ve just dropped the Amazon Live Creator app — a live-streaming feature for influencers.

The Amazon Live Creator App just gave a new life to the Amazon Influencer Program.

Now here’s your chance to ride this big wave.

How It Works

With Amazon Live Creator, influencers can now create live-stream videos to engage with shoppers and promote products.  And the showstopper is that these live streams will feature shoppable products.  Boom!

Yup, your viewers can add-to-cart in the middle of your live-action.  With this game-changing feature, the e-commerce giant is bringing content consumption straight to its website – creating somewhat of a social media experience on the marketplace.

And yes fam, you’ll earn commissions on sales.  Ka-ching!

Your streams will automatically appear on your storefront page and your followers will be notified through the Amazon app when you go live.

If you’re a rockstar and happen to climb up Amazon Live levels you’ll unlock additional placements of your content across the website plus higher commissions.

With the variety and diversity of products available on Amazon, this is a lucrative opportunity for influencers willing to explore their live-streaming talents.

To get a feel of it all in action, check out Amazon live-streams happening right now.

How to Qualify

Influencers will need to join the Amazon Influencer Program in order to use the Amazon Live Creator.

And in order to qualify to join the program, you’ll need to be an influencer on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.  Your follower numbers and engagement metrics will be validated – so your numbers are important.  But while they don’t necessarily specify the exact criteria, we have seen some influencers with <50k followers with Amazon storefronts.

Depending on the social media platform you choose to apply with, you’ll know straight away whether you qualify or not.

Once you’ve been approved for the program, download the Amazon Live Creator app and start streaming.

Google Launches ShopLoop

Wait, did Google just launch a “TikTok for e-commerce”?

Shut the front door!

Yes, they just did people.

I wish there was an emoji for this one.  Epic mind-blown.

When video entertainment and e-commerce meet, ShopLoop is born.  The future of online shopping?

Currently available on a mobile browser, ShopLoop presents a feed of rich short-form interactive video content of products promoted by influencers.  Users can discover new stuff and get product info through the videos – ultimately to inspire purchases.

How It Works

Influencers simply create short product videos – these could be explainers or promos – captioned with product prices and epic titles.  And, wait for it… Your affiliate links!

Displayed in a shop-style format, these posts are made to sell.

Like and save features are available on posts, although I don’t see any comment abilities.  Commenting definitely has its place in creating credibility in e-commerce, so perhaps it’s in the pipeline.

Mirroring familiar TikTok features, ShopLoop users can follow you to keep up with your promos, or alternatively, your content can be discovered in the home feed or the various category feeds.

I’m totally loving this way of online shopping.

How To Qualify

I know.  You’re ready for ShopLoop, aren’t you?

By the way, it helps to have a referral code from an existing ShopLoop creator to fast-track your application.  So you may want to be friendly with a few creators to hustle for a referral code.

Provide any one or all of your social media profiles on YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok in your application.  There’s no indication of specific criteria such as follower numbers, but judging by the videos already on the platform, I would assume that the quality of your video creation capabilities is an important factor.

You’ll also need to let them know if you’re willing to host live streams.  Not knowing if this is a make-or-break application factor, perhaps it’s best to link up with an existing creator to find out about their experience.

Available niche categories currently include beauty, fashion, home & garden, arts & crafts, electronics, as well as toys & games.

So if you fall into any one of these, it’s your lucky day.

Again, this new thing to drop in the influencer space is currently very hot news.  Now is not the time to snooze.

TikTok Announces the $200M TikTok Creator Fund

TikTokers get a grant?  Whoa, I think I need another coffee.

This is like the green card for TikTok influencers.

The news on the influencer street is that TikTok has just made a big move in the game.  A $200M move.  And just in case you thought that was massive, they’ve announced that they plan to grow the fund to $ 1 billion over the next couple of years.

How It Works

What does this fund mean for influencers?

TikTok has acknowledged immensely talented creators that dedicate themselves to expressing video content through entertainment, humor, inspiration, and empathy on the platform.  Viral videos have seen many creators build careers out of their creative talents through collaborations and partnerships.  Proving that earning a living through creating on the platform is possible.

In an effort to support the livelihoods of dedicated TikTok creators, The TikTok Creator Fund will be distributed to award influencers with additional earnings for their time, dedication, and talent on the platform.  Wow, right?

How To Qualify

TikTok will be rolling out more details about the application process in August 2020, but here’s what we know so far about eligibility:

1. The fund is open to US applicants.
2. Must be 18 years and above.
3. A minimum number of followers is required (specifics are yet to be disclosed).
4. Must be a consistent creator on the platform and must comply with their community guidelines.

YouTube Introduces BrandConnect

2020 sure is a big year for Google as they’re rolling out all these exciting new products.  And with a growth of over 260% in collaboration deals on YouTube, it’s no surprise to hear the news that they’re paying a lot of attention to the influencer marketing space.

YouTubers, this goodie is especially for you.

Three years and some lessons after Google acquired the influencer marketing platform, FameBit, they’ve gone back to the drawing board to create BrandConnect.

This time with a particular focus on authenticity and effectiveness in content campaigns on YouTube.

How It Works

Through BrandConnect, YouTube creators will have access to branded content opportunities.  They’ll be matched with brands based on their channel interests.

This program comes with added tools such as InfluencerLift which measures consumer sentiment on purchase intent, brand recall, and a whole lot more.

And with their new advert technology to allow product purchases and app downloads within videos, earning potential on YouTube just received an upgrade for creators.

How To Qualify

Here’s what we know about BrandConnect criteria for creators:

1. Creators must be part of the YouTube Partner Program
2. Must be 18 years and above.
3. Available to US creators.
4. Minimum of 25,000 subscribers.
5. Must have no active community guideline strikes.

If you’re a dedicated YouTuber, this is definitely a program to signup for – and perhaps even educate prospective brands to show your expertise in the YouTube space.

Conclusion:  Influencer Video Content is Breaking The Internet

And now for a round of donuts to all the video creators out there.  Because news flash: influencer video content is breaking the internet.

Amazon has caught onto live-streaming trends with the launch of the Amazon Live Creator App, Google has dropped a massive game-changer with the entertaining video e-commerce platform ShopLoop, and TikTok is supporting creators with the TikTok Creator Fund, and YouTube is driving authentic content campaigns with BrandConnect.

Live-streaming.  Entertaining e-commerce.  And most importantly, the value of influencers in the online space is ever-growing as we watch big business corporations invest in creator-driven growth strategies.

Influencers, you know what to do.  Go on and get rolling with your video content.

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