If you haven’t participated in a live streaming shopping session, we promise you are missing out on all the excitement! Shopping through a live stream is one of the most fun and interactive experiences because it simulates in-store shopping, except you are doing so in the comfort of your home.
Live stream shopping is easily accessible on many platforms. You can live shop on e-commerce platforms and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. People are live stream shopping by the millions. In fact, in 2019, the format drove $60 billion in global sales.
So why are customers itching to shop online through live sellers? Live streaming focuses wholly on elevating the customer experience and making them feel special. We share a few reasons why customers are eager to unlock their purse strings to shop through this entertaining format.
Shopping for anything and everything
Customers enjoy shopping a wide variety of categories through live shopping. Clothes, accessories, health and beauty products, food, household goods, and even electronics. Live demonstrations play a massive factor in why these categories continue to be popular with customers. Unlike your traditional e-commerce play, live shopping can delve deeper into these products. It’sIt’s no surprise why live sellers from different categories are jumping onto this phenomenon.
Up close and personal
A big perk about online shopping via a live stream means getting as close to the product as in real life. With apparel, models model the clothes for you and the hosts detailing the clothes’ fit, flow, and textures. If you are shopping for fresh seafood, you can also learn more about the origins of the seafood, the fishing process, and even the freshness of the food. The live educational information you obtain about the products is something genuinely unique about live stream shopping.
Building an emotional connection
Nothing beats a human connection, and live stream shopping provides precisely that. The emotional connection that customers get from the buying experience shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s all about the interaction and the personal touch as hosts directly answer customers’ burning questions. Hosts can even engage in friendly banter with them. Putting a face to the business, customers build a sense of camaraderie with the hosts and keep coming back as they know what to expect during these live streams.
Entertainment to keep you on your toes
One of the most thrilling parts of live shopping? The fun and games. Many live stream hosts snazz their live streams up with quizzes, contests, giveaways, polls, and more. Listening to hosts speak for an hour straight may get mundane, so switching it up with some gamification elements can keep customers entertained and entices them to join these sessions. At times, hosts create bids to make it even more exciting. It’s fastest fingers first as customers have to bid for the product quickest or risk losing out!
Supporting local
The past two years saw a significant shift towards live shopping as people couldn’t step out of their homes during the pandemic. To survive, local businesses dabbled in live shopping to connect with customers and continue selling their products. Dozens of traditional brick-and-mortar businesses that previously never considered live selling, evolved and pivoted too. Supporting local means helps these businesses thrive as customers put money back into their communities. It is also good for the environment as they often leave a smaller carbon footprint than larger companies.
Finding unique gems
Many live sellers painstakingly source and curate products, especially for their customers. This means that customers can expect a specific style and quality to these products. These products are sometimes sold in limited quantities or exclusively made so that customers will have a one-of-a-kind piece that no one else has. With such tailored and curated services, customers are keen to support live sellers who know their tastes and preferences well.
These are a few reasons why customers are eager to shop through a live stream. It’s a thrilling, personal, and special online shopping experience that can’t be compared to other modes. You can shop anywhere as long as you have a mobile phone and a stable internet connection. So if you are keen to try live shopping, hop onto one of the live streams on Instagram and Facebook to try! You’ll have one of the most memorable online shopping experiences.