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Live Shopping is an e-commerce sales animation tool that merges the experience of live shopping with the advantages of digital technology. This solution enables shoppers to interact in real time with presenters, ask questions and place orders while watching a live broadcast. Live Shopping thus creates an interactive and dynamic environment, conducive to online shopping for the consumer.
This concept, which is part of the e-commerce trend, stands out for its ability to offer a human dimension and create a direct link between brand and consumer, all online. In France, although Live Shopping is still in its infancy compared with Asia and the United States, companies are looking to capitalize on it to enrich the customer experience, with developments already underway since 2020.
While some see Live Shopping as a digital version of teleshopping, which first appeared in the 1980s, it first appeared on the Chinese market in 2017, notably through the Alibaba marketplace.
Much more than a simple product promotion and incentive to buy, Live Shopping offers an in-depth presentation of items, highlighting their benefits, contextual use and environment. Of course, the main objective remains to increase sales, but the method is evolving. Live advice, interaction, answers to questions: a whole ecosystem is deployed to offer consumers a clear and detailed vision of the products they are considering buying.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for Live Commerce, as containment measures and restrictions prompted consumers to turn to online shopping alternatives. As a result, 52% of consumers began buying online in 2020 in light of the health situation (CoMarketing News - Statista, 2024). The impossibility of going into stores has encouraged the development of new forms of digital commerce, where Live Shopping has found fertile ground in which to grow.
As companies have had to adapt quickly to changes in consumer behavior, Live Shopping has emerged as a solution for maintaining the link with customers while offering an enriching and secure remote shopping experience.
The e-commerce market in France has only increased in sales since its launch. From 2019 to 2023 alone, sales generated rose from 103.4 to 159.9 trillion euros, an increase of half. The market is still growing, despite some changes.
The landscape of the e-commerce market is dominated by the e-commerce giants, even if changes are taking place, notably in the private-to-private marketplaces (Vinted, Leboncoin), which are gaining ground.
Indeed, in terms of monthly visits, Amazon remains the market leader, but is closely followed by Leboncoin. It's worth noting that international marketplaces such as Aliexpress, Shein and eBay are joined by French sellers like Sncfconnect, Leroy Merlin and FNAC.
These situations illustrate the need for e-tailers to stand out from the crowd in a constantly evolving ecosystem, with growth and international leaders competing with different approaches.
The growing adoption of streaming technologies and the continuous improvement of live broadcasting platforms are key factors that have contributed to the rise of Live Shopping.
Indeed, the profile of online shoppers is also constantly evolving and favorable to the development of Live Shopping, with the 18-69 age group increasingly buying online, with 82% of 18-24 year-olds, 88% of 25-39 year-olds, 86% of 40-59 year-olds and 81% of 60-69 year-olds (CREDOC, ARCEP - Statista 2024).
This profile is also driven by the increasing access to broadband connections among French households, with the rate of fiber installation rising from 3.4% in 2017 to 12.3% in 2020 (ARCEP - Statista 2020).
Moreover, this profile remains very attached to the computer for making purchases: it is used by 96% of online buyers (Survey M-commerce and Q commerce - Capterra 2023. Interestingly, the smartphone is also an interesting device. Tablets, on the other hand, are still used for purposes other than online shopping.
Customers are increasingly looking for a more interactive, personalized and entertaining shopping experience. Live Shopping responds to this demand by offering a rich and engaging shopping experience that goes beyond the simple online transaction.
The fact that Live Shopping generates six times as many engagements as traditional online videos bears witness to this shift in consumer expectations, with an emphasis on interaction and quality content.
What remains interesting is that Live Shopping, which can be consulted on both mobile and computer, responds to devices integrated into different phases of online purchasing. Thus, when shoppers request additional information, 54% do so on the computer, and 39% by mobile. This need is addressed by the question-and-answer functionality of Live Shopping platforms like Caast.
By responding to their needs and creating a human connection with the buyer, brands play on consumers' emotions.
Aware of the need to stand out in a competitive business environment, brands are adopting increasingly innovative marketing strategies. Live Shopping offers companies the opportunity to present their products in a dynamic way, creating a real show around their offering.
By integrating Live Shopping into their marketing strategy, brands can not only increase their visibility but also create an authentic link with their customers, fostering a lasting relationship based on trust.
Live Shopping enables direct, real-time interaction with customers, a considerable advantage for brands. This proximity fosters consumer engagement and allows questions to be answered instantly, creating a friendly and reassuring shopping experience.
This form of interaction also reinforces the sense of belonging to a community, an essential aspect in building brand loyalty.
Live Shopping has proven to be a powerful lever for increasing conversion rates. According to the data, it can multiply them up to tenfold online, an impressive figure that underlines the effectiveness of this commercial approach.
What's more, the immersive, personalized nature of Live Shopping fosters customer loyalty, making them feel valued and more inclined to return and make new purchases.
Live Shopping transforms the shopping experience into an event in its own right. By focusing on immersion and personalization, this approach offers consumers a unique experience that goes far beyond the simple purchase of a product.
Thanks to technology, the possibilities for personalization are almost infinite, offering customers an experience tailored precisely to their needs and preferences. Replay is therefore an integral part of the new shopping experience created by Live Shopping.
Another advantage of Live Shopping today is that solutions and technologies remain open to innovations in functionality and usage. Publishers are making their solutions more robust, while allowing the integration of artificial intelligence or User Generated Contents.
Platforms such as Caast, which offer simple Live Commerce integration, enable e-tailers to implement this solution in less than 30 minutes, making this innovation accessible even to small businesses looking to boost their sales strategy.
Partnerships with influencers are a possible lever for the success of Live Shopping. These web personalities have a loyal and engaged audience, which represents an opportunity for brands to extend their reach and reach new audiences.
Influencers, thanks to their ability to generate engagement, help to humanize the brand and present products in an authentic, credible way, thus encouraging the decision to buy. Putting them in the spotlight at Live Shopping events as animators is a good way of using this lever positively.
This is Sephora's gamble, as it doesn't hesitate to use Léna Situations or Nikki Tutorials to sell cosmetics and demystify their uses for consumers.
User-generated content, such as reviews and testimonials, as well as videos and online reviews, is a powerful tool for building brand trust and credibility. In the context of Live Shopping, integrating this type of content helps to reassure potential customers and encourage them to take the next step towards purchase.
Highlighting the positive experiences of other consumers creates a social proof effect that can significantly influence purchasing behavior. User testimonials can be integrated into the Live Shopping session.
Social networks are an essential vector for the dissemination and popularization of Live Shopping. They offer an ideal platform for promoting these live events, attracting the attention and interest of large audiences.
In fact, 68% of European Internet users go on social networks every day, while the rest go once or several times a week (Statista, 2024). This channel is therefore the best way to maintain your Live Shopping community, and your brand community in general. Multicasting is therefore also a possible tool for generating more traffic and conversions during your Live Shopping sessions.
The integration of advanced technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence promises to further revolutionize Live Shopping. These technologies will enable the creation of even more immersive and personalized experiences, offering, for example, the possibility of virtually trying out products before purchase.
Combining Live Shopping with these technological innovations has the potential to radically transform the way consumers interact with brands and make online purchases.
Live Commerce is expanding globally, with markets such as Europe and North America beginning to follow in the footsteps of Asian countries where the practice is already well established. This expansion will require cultural adaptation, however, with brands having to localize their Live Shopping strategies to suit the specificities of each market.
Cultural adaptation will be a key element in ensuring the success of Live Shopping internationally, taking into account differences in consumer buying behavior, preferences and expectations.
The prospects for Live Shopping are vast, offering many opportunities for brands wishing to innovate and stand out from the crowd. However, this sector will face challenges, particularly in terms of regulation, data protection and maintaining consumer engagement over the long term.
Companies will also need to continue investing in training and technological skills to fully exploit the potential of Live Shopping, while ensuring a consistent, high-quality customer experience.