Livestream shopping

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Livestream shopping (also known as live video shopping) is used by brands to promote and sell products through livestreams on digital platforms, [1] often in collaboration with influencers.

Contents

The aim is to provide consumers with an immersive and interactive experience, allowing them to ask questions and buy products during the livestream. [1]

It started in Asia in 2017 and then expanded to the rest of the world over the following years. [2]

Terminology & phenomenon

Live streaming is a type of streaming that allows, through the Internet, to transmit or receive a particular content while the event is taking place: in this case the event is a live presentation of a product followed by consumers from different locations.[ citation needed ]

Livestream shopping consists, indeed, in livestreams on digital platforms (e-commerce) or social media (Facebook, Instagram etc. ) in which an influencer promotes a product or a brand. While the influencer promotes, people can watch these livestreams and they can ask questions live, they can chat or buy products from the shop. [1] In this way, the activity of shopping is translated from offline into the digital world.

The aim is to make sure that consumers get completely involved in the live sale that may take place on the other side of the world, without the necessity of being there physically. [1]

Other terminology for the same phenomenon:

Shopping in contemporary society

Influencers and their contemporary role

The Internet has had a considerable impact in many spheres, including communication and consumerism and it is considered to be one of the most influential media and a key element in globalisation. [3]

The arrival of social networks has changed the behaviour of consumers, connecting users and making them participate and active, prosumers, both consumers and content producers.

In this context the concept of e-marketing, or digital marketing, has made its way, that is applying the concepts of marketing through the internet technology. Kotler states that the electronic marketing is "the effort of the company to inform, advertise and sell products and services via the Internet". [4] This new type of marketing allows to identify a more precise target, customizing the experience of each user making it more dynamic. Segmentation is a very useful tool for directly targeting consumers who, thanks to the Internet, are increasingly informed and therefore it becomes more difficult to attract them through traditional media. [5]

Social media has transformed communication, allowing interaction and engagement between members of a community through messages, sharing photos and videos in real time and globally. This environment allows the consumer to create and share creative, informative and fun contents. The media therefore offers an opportunity for companies to reach new markets and new broad customer targets.

The concept of digital marketing gives rise to several subcategories, including influencer marketing. Celebrities have always been used to promote contents, increase brand awareness or brand perception. In influencer marketing, however, celebrities are chosen from the world of social media, which, thanks to their knowledge, skills or personality, [3] can become online opinion leaders and thus influence directly or indirectly the decisions of consumers. [5] "Influencer marketing is the virtue and the science of engaging people who have influence on the Internet to spread the message of a specific trend and its targeted audience in the form of sponsored content". [6] Therefore, influencers can help to attract new potential consumers, create brand awareness and improve the brand image. Choosing influencers with the right persona and matching picture style is crucial. Whether the influencer can influence users, i.e., whether they have private domain traffic, they must have loyal fans. The anchor, the user, and the goods are based on the interaction of the scene and need to form a "field" following the established script-controlled plot, leading to many transactions. [7]

Consumers tend to perceive the messages advertised by influencers as more reliable and convincing than conventional advertising, thus ensuring a higher economic return (ROI) for companies. [3] In fact, influencer marketing is based on the confidence and trust of consumers acquired by the opinion leaders [5] over time.

Pandemic boost

The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns had a significant impact on the use of social networks and consumption. [8] The ephemeral content in particular was consumed more during the pandemic. [9] This fact has been exploited by marketers to reach and connect to consumers, being the only way to communicate with them.

Brands have therefore tried and are trying to adapt to this decisive change. In China, since live commerce had a significant boost during the pandemic, consumers have found  livestream shopping as an important interactive experience. [10]

Value and volume

According to Alibaba, the largest online retailer in China, the sale worth from its live-streaming commerce business during the Single’s Day Shopping Festival hit ca.20-billion-yuan (ca. $3 million) in November 2019. [11]

In 2020 the number of live streaming in China consumers reached 526 million. Moreover, the rivalry was not only among livestreaming ecommerces but also among influencers on social media (like TikTok). [11]

Livestream shopping represents a bridge between entertainment and online shopping, that's why this phenomenon has the huge potential to become the new norm for e-commerce in China. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online shopping</span> Form of electronic commerce

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. As of 2020, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">User-generated content</span> Online content created by users

User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of intelligent web services which allow everyday users to create content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testimonials, and software and interact with other users. Online content aggregation platforms such as social media, discussion forums and wikis by their interactive and social nature, no longer produce multimedia content but provide tools to produce, collaborate, and share a variety of content, which can affect the attitudes and behaviors of the audience in various aspects. This transforms the role of consumers from passive spectators to active participants.

The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular advertisement or message.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital marketing</span> Marketing of products or services using digital technologies or digital tools

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. It has significantly transformed the way brands and businesses utilize technology for marketing since the 1990s and 2000s. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly used digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e-books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callbacks, and on-hold mobile ringtones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taobao</span> Chinese website for online shopping

Taobao is a Chinese online shopping platform. It is headquartered in Hangzhou and is owned by Alibaba. According to Alexa rank, it was the eighth most-visited website globally in 2021. Taobao.com was registered on April 21, 2003 by Alibaba Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. According to Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen, customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.

Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves social media and online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services.

Customer experience, sometimes abbreviated to CX, is the totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioral customer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live streaming</span> Live broadcasting via the Internet

Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as streaming, the real time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non-live broadcast forms of streamed media such as video-on-demand, vlogs and video-sharing platforms such as YouTube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet celebrity</span> Person who has become famous through their use of the Internet

An internet celebrity, also referred to as a social media personality or an influencer, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large, global audience, and internet celebrities are commonly present on large online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, which primarily rely on user-generated content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social media marketing</span> Promotion of products or services on social media

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purchase funnel</span> Model of theoretical customer journey toward purchase of a good or service

The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.

The wanghong economy [internet celebrity economy] refers to the Chinese digital economy based on influencer marketing through social media platforms. Wanghong is the Chinese term for internet celebrity. Chinese wanghong celebrities attract the attention of internet users, which can translate into profit through e-commerce and online advertising.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiaohongshu</span> Chinese social media and e-commerce platform

Xiaohongshu is a social media and e-commerce platform. In the Xiaohongshu community, information is presented in a Pinterest-style layout, but combined with video and live streaming features, and users can also share product reviews and text descriptions of travel destinations. It has been described as China's answer to Instagram, and simply as Chinese Instagram.

Social media use by businesses includes a range of applications. Although social media accessed via desktop computers offer a variety of opportunities for companies in a wide range of business sectors, mobile social media, which users can access when they are "on the go" via tablet computers or smartphones, benefit companies because of the location- and time-sensitive awareness of their users. Mobile social media tools can be used for marketing research, communication, sales promotions/discounts, informal employee learning/organizational development, relationship development/loyalty programs, and e-commerce.

Kumu is a Filipino video sharing and e-commerce social networking service owned and developed by Kumumedia Technologies, Inc. The social media platform is used to livestream curated programs created by app users and partner brands and as an e-commerce platform for app users and partner brands who want to sell their merchandise online. It was founded in 2017 and launched on Android and iOS devices in February 2018. Kumu caters mainly to the Philippine market and the Filipino diaspora. In October 2020, the app topped the download charts of both the Apple App Store and Google Play in the free apps category. The app aims to become a "super app" that combines the functionalities of other apps like YouTube, TikTok, Shopee, Instagram and Facebook Messenger into one. Kumu is considering adding offline events to its platform, such as fan meetings with popular livestreamers and a convention inspired by Comic-Con called Kumu-Con, and expand beyond livestreaming to e-commerce and payments.

Livestreaming e-commerce in China was initiated by fashion e-commerce platform Mogujie in 2016. In the same year, it was picked up and gradually made popular by Alibaba, who turned live commerce into a fixture in its annual Singles' Day shopping festivals.

Xinxuan Group is a retail business operating in China's livestreaming e-commerce segment. Xinxuan's core business is a multi-channel network, on which livestreamers, also known in China as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), promote brands and products.

Huang Wei, commonly known by her stage name Viya is a Chinese social media personality known for using livestreams on Taobao Live to sell various items as a form of influencer marketing. Her prowess at selling items, including many high-priced ones, has gained her the moniker "queen of livestreaming". In December 2021, she was fined $210 million for tax evasion as part of a greater crackdown on entertainers and investors, the biggest fine for a livestreamer in China.

Qianxun Group is a content livestream agency. It attained media attention for representing Viya, one of China's most popular influencers, noted for having sold a rocket for RMB 40 million during a live session in April 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "A Comprehensive Guide to Live Stream Shopping". Influencer Marketing Hub. 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  2. 1 2 Henkel. "Shopstreaming: When live streaming meets shopping". www.henkel.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Bognar, Z. B., Puljic, N. P., & Kadezabek, D. (2019, June 13). IMPACT OF INFLUENCER MARKETING ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR. 42nd International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development, 308
  4. ↑ Kotler, P., Wong, V., Saunders, J., & Armstrong, G. (2006). OSNOVE MARKETINGA. Mate d.o.o.
  5. 1 2 3 Zak, Stefan; Hasprova, Maria (2020). "The role of influencers in the consumer decision-making process". SHS Web of Conferences. 74: 03014. doi: 10.1051/shsconf/20207403014 . ISSN   2261-2424.
  6. ↑ Sammis, K., Lincoln, C., & Pomponi, S. (2015). Influencer Marketing For Dummies. For Dummies.
  7. ↑ Zhou, Liying; Jin, Fei; Wu, Banggang; Wang, Xiaodong; Lynette Wang, Valerie; Chen, Zhi (2022-01-01). "Understanding the role of influencers on live streaming platforms: when tipping makes the difference". European Journal of Marketing. 56 (10): 2677–2697. doi:10.1108/EJM-10-2021-0815. ISSN   0309-0566. S2CID   251360178.
  8. ↑ Kemp, Simon (2020-04-24). "Report: Most important data on digital audiences during coronavirus". Growth Quarters | The Next Web. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  9. ↑ Bradley, Amanda Perelli, Dan Whateley, Sydney (2020-09-01). "How the coronavirus is changing the influencer business, according to marketers and top creators on Instagram and YouTube". Business Insider France (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "Shopping in live streams". South China Morning Post. 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  11. 1 2 3 "China: market size of live commerce 2017-2020". Statista. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
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