The future of online retail looks a lot like QVC, with live shopping stream of influencers
While the models walked down the runway, they also strutted their stuff for an audience of one — a virtual camera. The viewers were able to watch them live on Instagram as if it was being streamed from another room! All this happens because there are people who would want to visually see how it would look on a person when worn.
Retailers and brands are using live-streamed shopping events to sell a growing variety of products. These streaming formats have been seen on Facebook, Instagram Tik Tok among other platforms. In the future, these companies hope that more customers will buy from them through their websites or apps rather than with in person sales people at traditional stores.
Nordstrom has started their own live-stream channel. The lineup of virtual events includes makeup lessons, wine tastings and dance classes. Amazon hosted more than 1,200 live streams during its annual Prime Day sale in October 2018. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Live-stream shopping events are projected to generate nearly $26 billion in sales by 2023. This represents an increase from the estimated market value of over $5.6 billion last year and is due, at least partially, to retailers catering towards homebound consumers on their phones and computers during pandemic times when shoppers were less likely to leave their homes out of fear or caution surrounding contagious disease outbreaks like swine flu or ebola virus — Coresight Research.
The Home Shopping Network is back, but with a twist. Live streams are now the new shopping trend for today’s consumers who want to have more interactive experiences when they shop online.
As home shopping channels were born out of an era when people didn’t have alternatives like Netflix, they are facing difficult times competing in the current market. Many analysts don’t think that live streaming will help to boost long-term growth because viewers can access entertainment on their various devices at any time and it is hard for them to hold attention within this environment.
Fenyo says that 2017 is the year of experimentation. Brands are beginning to invest in live streams and ask questions such as what items they should feature, who will host it? For example, influencers or employees.
Hélène Desmettre and her husband host Amazon live streams multiple times a day, sometimes for eight hours at a time. The 27-year-old model and social media influencer began sharing her beauty routine with viewers just as the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold in the United States. During this period of isolationism, she relied heavily on these daily interactions to keep herself from feeling alone during such an isolating phase when people no longer wanted to go out or shop face-to-face because it could potentially put others in danger who weren’t already infected by coronavirus yet.
Streamer, Melanie Desmettre says that when she first started streaming it felt like a performance and her friends were watching. She was very aware of what they would think about everything she did or said. However, now things are different because during the stream it feels more natural to talk with people from all over the world who have similar interests as you do. “I used to be really polished when we started,” said Streamer, Melaine Desmettre “ I didn’t dare to be funny or go outside my bubble but now its feeling likes i’m talking with friends.”
David Kim lost his job as a brand consultant during the pandemic. He joined his wife Desmettre after this, and together they now share their opinions about different products on Amazon each day in order to earn commissions of 1–4%. They decline to provide specifics for reasons such as an NDA with them.
The new tactic is to draw in online shoppers and give them enough context so they can buy a product. This generally works: live-streaming customers are 50 percent less likely than other online buyers to return an item, according to Coresight data.
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