We've said it before, and we’ll almost certainly say it again: livestream shopping is the future of e-commerce. In 2019, one of Asia’s leading social media influencers, Li Jiaqi, generated over $145 million in sales by livestreaming and spending only five minutes on each product. In 2020, Li Jiaqi and Viya, another top livestream influencer generated $1.2 billion in sales in one evening. E-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com also reported combined sales of approximately $115 billion during the event.
The concept began surging in popularity back in 2016, when Alibaba launched Taobao Live, its livestream e-commerce platform, and increased its revenue from 3 billion yuan ($427 million) in 2017, to 638 billion yuan ($91 billion) in 2019. Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider that they came before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the entire world had to adapt to online-only social interactions. In February of 2020, Taobao Live capitalized on the virtual momentum by waiving service fees. The result? A 719% increase in viewership and a surge in profits.
So, what is livestream ecommerce? Think of it like QVC on steroids. Not only can viewers get a first look at trending products and have an opportunity to purchase influencer favorites, but they can also interact with the hosts in real-time. For example, consider Viya, the face of China’s “e-commerce livestreaming” boom. According to SupChina, she can “draw more viewers – 37 million this May — than the finales of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and the latest season of The Bachelor, combined. She’s made more profit in one day (Single’s Day 2019, $385 million) than Aston Martin does in one year. She’s sold everything — car fresheners and GM rice, noodles and houses, razors and rockets (designed to launch satellites into orbit).” And she’s done it all via livestream.
Her show is described by Bloomberg as “part variety show, part infomercial, part group chat.” At its heart is a conveyor belt of products, each held up, praised, demonstrated, and dispatched, with fans shooting out of the gates in pursuit of hot discounts with a swift “5-4-3-2-1!”
Utilizing livestream video for interactive shopping sessions is a no-brainer. In the U.S., the livestream e-commerce market is valued at about $5 billion and is rapidly increasing, and is projected to rival that of Asia in the future.
And the best part? Retail isn’t where the versatility of livestreaming ends. If you’re not sure about that, consider these statistics:
- 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos
- 59% of executives choose video information over text
- Video content is 1200% more successful than other content
Almost every industry can use livestreaming to help accomplish their goals—it just takes a little creativity. Below, we’ve outlined a few ideas to get you thinking about how you can best implement livestreaming into your business strategy.
Sports
The popularity of televised sports isn’t going anywhere. According to Statista, “In 2021, approximately 57.5 million viewers in the United States watched digital live sports content at least once per month, a figure that is projected to rise to over 90 million by 2025.” But those viewers weren’t solely sitting in front of a television. 66% of millennials and younger people are consuming sports content most frequently from their mobile devices. None of these numbers should come as too much of a shock—after all, the Super Bowl continues to draw more viewers and ad revenue than almost anything else on TV, and millennials are using their phones for pretty much everything.
And if you think sports content should be targeted solely to men, think again. Livestream’s research says that 80% of women describe themselves as sports fans and are willing to pay up to 50% more for over-the-top content. And, in households with children, that percentage jumps to 70%. If you’re in the sports industry, utilizing livestreaming in your business strategy is one of the easiest ways to take advantage of this untapped revenue source. DC
Potential Use Cases for Livestream Technology in Sports:
- Interactive live VIP experiences
- Virtual athlete meet-and-greets
- Behind-the-scenes tours
- Ticket sales
- Exclusive fan merchandise
- Post-game locker room access
- Exclusive interviews
Tutorials
Imagine watching your favorite home improvement channel and being able to see exactly how to turn your home into the oasis of your dreams. Livestreams can show users exactly what tools and materials to purchase, and include step-by-step instructions for popular design and renovation projects.
The possibilities for tutorials are endless. For example, if you’ve been wowed by some of the makeup transformations that are so popular on TikTok or YouTube, live-streamed tutorials could provide an opportunity for you to master those looks yourself. Or, say you’re interested in picking up a new hobby, but don’t live near anyone who can show you the ropes: thanks to technology, you can participate in a tutorial with anyone, everywhere. I recently tuned into an influencer’s Instagram livestream just to learn how to tie the perfect bows onto my Christmas trees. With livestreaming, not only do you have a chance to see exactly what it takes to complete a project, in real-time, but you can personally connect with the presenter to make sure all of your questions are answered.
Ad-Supported Content
Even if you’re not selling a tangible good, livestreaming can still be a useful source of revenue, as long as you’re utilizing ad-supported content. Hubspot reports that 52% of viewers would rather watch ad-supported content than pay for a subscription and eMarketer says that, “nearly 128 million people in the US will watch advertising-based video-on-demand (AVOD) this year, a growth of 17.6%, over 2020.”
What does that mean for you? As long as you’re creating captivating content, you’ll be able to find viewers—and likely paid advertisers. Livestreaming opportunities are open to every industry, regardless of whether or not they’re selling a physical product (think news stations, creative agencies, or events companies, just to name a few).
The keywords here, however, are CAPTIVATING CONTENT. 43% of viewers say compelling content is the primary motivator for live online viewing, so you need to be sure that what you’re delivering is worth both the money of your advertisers and the time of your audience if you want to be successful.
Putting it All Together
To recap, consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, a trend that has accelerated due to the pandemic. Nearly every brand has an online presence, even if it’s in addition to brick-and-mortar stores, and customers now expect flexible, engaging e-commerce experiences. Establishing an online presence is an easy way to breathe life and longevity into a brand, and including livestreaming into your strategy is the easiest and most effective way to set yourself apart from the crowd and get a leg up on the competition. Livestream e-commerce is making huge waves in Asia, and that momentum is expected to carry over into the U.S. market. And just because you don’t sell a physical profit doesn’t mean that you can’t capitalize on the benefits of livestreaming—with a little bit of creativity and some engaging content, anyone has the potential to make huge revenue gains.
Looking to Get Started with Livestreaming?
verbLIVE may be the perfect fit for you. Our innovative platform merges state-of-the-art livestreaming with our proprietary interactive technology, creating the ultimate livestreaming solution. LIVE is for anyone looking to…
- Remotely collaborate
- Effectively train from a distance
- Deliver high-end, interactive presentations
- Sell in real-time, without a storefront, limitations, or the restrictions of being stuck to one platform
It’s a frictionless, web-based platform, meaning that no download is needed, and it’s available on ALL devices. verbLIVE also boasts complete visibility of participants—so you can see who’s with you and how they’re interacting—as well as instant analytics that you won’t get anywhere else (like real-time ROI when livestream selling) to provide the information you need to make tailored, data-driven decisions. If you’re interested in learning how livestreaming can benefit your business, reach out for a demo today.
About the author:
Wife, supermom, foodie, and talented critic, Heather Hanson, is a skilled veteran in copywriting, editing, creative writing, and social media outreach. She brings a lot to the table with Verb and has been recognized by our company as our National Treasure