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According to Statista, online shoppers in China were the most familiar with live commerce, with 77 percent having already purchased products via live streaming shopping.
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India ranked second in live e-commerce adoption, with three-quarters of respondents claiming to have used it in the past.
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Facebook was the most popular social media platform for live streaming shopping, used for this activity by nearly 58 percent of global internet users. Instagram ranked second, with 46 percent of respondents, followed by TikTok, with almost 16 percent.
The landscape of e-commerce has undergone a radical transformation with the advent of Live Streaming Shopping. This innovative trend utilizes live broadcasts to promote products and services, providing consumers with the opportunity to interact with sellers and dynamically explore product features. In this article, we will delve into the advantages and disadvantages of Live Streaming Shopping and its impact on the current e-commerce landscape.
Advantages of Live Streaming Shopping
- Facilitates the buying decision: Live Streaming Shopping allows consumers to see products in action and ask questions in real-time. This interactive experience provides buyers with a comprehensive understanding of products, enabling them to make more informed and confident purchase decisions.
- High social media engagement: Live broadcasts generate a higher level of interaction and engagement from users on social media platforms. This not only increases brand visibility but also fosters customer loyalty as they feel part of a real-time and exclusive experience.
- Opportunity to offer discounts: Live Streaming Shopping provides an excellent opportunity to offer discounts and special promotions during live broadcasts. This marketing strategy can boost sales and capture viewers’ attention, incentivizing immediate purchases.
- Reaches broader audiences: Live broadcasts have the potential to reach a wider audience compared to traditional advertisements. Real-time participation and social media virality can expand brand reach, generating increased visibility, and consequently, higher sales.
- Enhances the customer experience: Live Streaming Shopping offers a highly interactive and personalized shopping experience. Consumers can directly interact with sellers, ask specific product-related questions, and receive real-time responses. This enhances the customer experience by providing them with confidence and satisfaction in thoroughly understanding product details and benefits.
- Humanizes the brand or product: Live broadcasts help humanize the brand or product by allowing viewers to see the people behind the company. This emotional connection strengthens the relationship between the brand and consumers, fostering long-term trust and loyalty.
Disadvantages of Live Streaming Shopping
- Inability to review or test products before purchasing: One limitation of Live Streaming Shopping is that consumers cannot physically review or test products before making a purchase. This may generate some distrust or dissatisfaction among buyers, especially those who prefer a hands-on experience before making a buying decision.
- Dependency on devices and internet connection: To participate in live broadcasts, consumers must have access to electronic devices and a stable internet connection. This technological dependence may limit the audience and exclude those who lack the necessary resources.
- Lower quality of live broadcasts: In some cases, the quality of live broadcasts may be inferior to pre-recorded videos. Technical issues such as poor internet connection or low-quality visuals and sound can negatively impact the perception of the brand or product, creating a negative experience for viewers.
- Lack of integration with marketing strategy: The fact that live broadcasts are not conducted within the online store itself can hinder their integration with a company’s marketing strategy. This presents an additional challenge in terms of coordination and consistency in the customer experience, especially when seeking synergy between Live Streaming Shopping and other online sales channels.
Before implementing this strategy, companies should carefully consider both the positive and negative aspects and tailor it to their overall marketing strategy to ensure maximum success and customer satisfaction. Live Streaming Shopping offers a new and exciting path to the future of e-commerce, and those who effectively leverage it will be better positioned in the competitive online commerce world.
