Live video shopping: The cutting-edge phenomenon which has taken the world by storm

Live shopping. Live commerce. Live stream shopping. Live video shopping. The cutting-edge phenomenon which has taken the world by storm goes by many names.

The trend started in China and quickly spread to most of Asia. In China alone, about 50,000 live streams with approximately 260 million viewers are held daily.

With the outbreak of Covid-19 and the temporary closure of physical stores in many countries, the phenomenon started to gain foothold in many Western countries as well. In fact, live sales became the saviour of many small, local stores who did not have capital to survive the repeated shutdowns without drastic interventions.

With the live shopping format, physical stores of all sizes and from all industries were able to maintain or even increase their revenue despite having no visitors in their physical shops.

You can read case studies from fashion businesses that have increased engagement and driven meaningful sales via the ELISA platform here.

70 % of consumers are open to live shopping

A recent study reveals that more than 70 percent of European consumers have explored or are open to explore live shopping. Undoubtedly, live shopping is not a short-lived trend but a sales and marketing channel which has come to stay.

The growing fascination with live shopping in Western countries does not come as a surprise to ELISA – an international company providing live selling software to more than 1,200 retailers in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Norway, Finland, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

ELISA, which is short for Easy Live Sales, has assisted over 8,000 successful social media live shows leading to a total of more than 2 million transactions. With ELISA’s popular software it is both quick and easy to sell and buy products via live streams on social media.

The software registers all purchases, replies to all comments, keeps track of the retailer’s stock supply, acts as a shopping cart if you have no webshop, handles all customers’ payment- and shipping information, sends out reminders right before a new live stream – and much more.

In addition, the live selling software integrates with many webshop-, payment- and shipping providers. If you have a webshop, it only takes a minute to connect e.g. Shopify or WooCommerce to ELISA and have your product stock synchronised with the software.

Likewise, if you own a physical shop, you can easily connect ELISA to your preferred payment provider to create a seamless experience for both you and your customer.

With all of this in mind, it is no surprise that ELISA has quickly become one of the preferred live selling tools among European retailers.

Dissolves the division between physical and digital stores

But why has the phenomenon of live shopping become so popular worldwide among consumers and retailers alike? What is all the fuss about?

Let us start by looking at the consumer’s perspective. With live shopping, consumers get the personal assistance of an in-store shopping trip combined with the convenience of being able to shop from home.

During a live show, consumers can ask questions about specific products and immediately receive informed answers from the retailer. In addition, they can interact with each other and share their experiences with various products. All from the comfort of their own homes.

For the retailer, live selling provides a unique opportunity to interact and connect with many customers at once.

As we all know, the physical store is limited in reach but provides the opportunity to connect with each customer on a personal level. In contrast, the webshop allows for a wide reach but no personal interactions. With live shopping, you get the benefits of both worlds:

"Live shopping is the best of both worlds. A hybrid between the e-commerce and the physical store. For a long time, webshops have been gaining ground, which means that many people lack the intimacy and personal interactions associated with the physical buying experience. In many ways, live shopping dissolves the division between physical and digital stores," explains Christian Vester, CEO of ELISA.

What does it take to get started with live commerce?

So, which gadgets are necessary to start your live selling journey and host successful live events? Should you make room in your budget to invest in equipment such as a high-resolution camera, a fancy backdrop, professional lighting, and expensive microphones?

Luckily not. There’s no doubt that a high-tech setup will impress your viewers and take your live show to the next level. For instance, a ring light can be exactly what you need to make your products look their best.

But it is by no means necessary. One of the cool things about live selling is that you can begin simply by using your smartphone plus a reliable software solution to handle all the administration. With these two items at hand, you are good to go.

Get our free e-book on Live Shopping in the Fashion industry to receive more tips and tricks

For more information about ELISA, visit www.elisa.io or send an email to [email protected]

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