The way people shop has been changing even before COVID-19 began. Can SMEs – especially those in the retail sector – capitalize on the latest evolution of online consumer behaviour to meet the challenges of the new normal?
Even with relaxed safe distancing measures, some prefer to stay away from crowds and shop from the safety of their own home.
This change in behavior, as a response to the realities of the pandemic, has simply added to the growing e-commerce trend that has exploded in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. How then can SMEs leverage this technology as an opportunity to increase sales? And what are some of the services that can prove useful and improve sales for businesses during this time?
The Rise of Live Commerce
Live commerce combines live video streaming with the ability to interact with sellers and to buy immediately. Purchases are made through an interactive in-stream catalog, and without leaving the live stream.
Compared to traditional shopping channels, the benefits of live commerce continue are evident with use-cases around the world. For example, AliExpress launched a live commerce service called ‘AliExpress LIVE’. It saw as many as 320,000 goods added to the cart per one million views during a live session. These incredible conversions are the reasons many companies are flocking towards live commerce.
Who is Using Live Commerce?
Changi Airport had its seven-week marathon of online sales during Singapore’s circuit breaker period at the peak of the pandemic.
The campaign also involved live stream sessions with local personalities and huge discount codes for online products. Powered by BeLive Technology, viewers of the live stream could view products through an in-stream catalogue, and make purchases without leaving the live stream.
Bukalapak, one of Indonesia’s top e-commerce marketplaces, designed to help the country’s millions of mom-and-pop kiosks come online, is at the forefront of innovation. With BeLive’s solutions, Bukalapak’s 13.5 million e-commerce sellers are further empowered to showcase their products to over 100 million customers of the platform and engage them through live trivia and live shopping.
Top 3 Live Shopping Solutions
BeLive Technology (BeLive)
One of the best live shopping solutions for businesses, BeLive Technology has the most expertise in the live streaming sector. They started as a consumer-facing live streaming app before focusing to provide premium live streaming technology and features to businesses.
BeLive’s clients are no laughing matter. This Singaporean company developed and powers Rakuten Japan’s social live streaming and shopping app. Changi Airport Group and Suntec City also used BeLive’s live shopping technology for their live shopping festivals in 2020. Indonesia’s Bukalapak is also launching its live streaming platform, powered by BeLive Technology.
Bambuser
Bambuser offers a service in which you can maintain a live stream with those who visit your site, while they are able to browse, ask questions in a live chat, and make purchases all while you are maintaining your stream.
The service offers a “one-to-many” option, in which you can host a live video event and anyone can join the stream to ask questions, provide likes and other reactions to the products. This lets you know how customers are feeling about your products and what you may need to change or promote on a large scale.
Bambuser’s features are attractive, but one bane is their high costs and lack of flexibility. Clients of Bambuser are limited in terms of the user experience of the features and require prior knowledge of developing.
Livescale
Livescale implemented its live shopping solution in 2019. The service is multi-dimensional, including the ability to create customized live shopping experiences for customers. They also offer support solutions to ensure that your business is using best practices in your live e-commerce strategy.
The service boasts the ability to increase engagement and to “transform your audience into a community”. Additionally, Livescale integrates with Shopify, one of the best e-commerce platforms currently available. However, customizability of features in Livescale is limited.
The Bottom Line
At this time, live commerce can certainly help retailers obtain more online traffic and sales at a relatively lower cost.
With their own live commerce platform, businesses can reach more customers who are unaware of their business. The more people who come to know about them through their digital storefront, the more they will share with others. With 96% of buyers finding videos helpful when making purchase decisions, live commerce should be one of your business strategies.
If your business is ready to make that next move, contact BeLive Technology for a free consultation on premium live shopping features.
