The emergence of e-commerce in the Indian market is not something new that the world has been witnessing, but what is interesting is the moving popularity of live stream shopping or video shopping. So, what exactly is live stream shopping? Let’s look at why everyone is so eager to adopt this trend!
Live Stream Shopping or Live commerce is an online mode of shopping allowing consumers to buy products on the spot during live streaming of events. Brands use a fun and engaging strategy to congruously communicate, market, and sell their products. One can say that it’s an effective way of getting the best of both worlds, traditional commerce and the digital era, that is providing a plethora of options to retailers while giving consumers the option to interact in a scenario like a traditional market. Some parallels can be drawn from the teleshopping era, but since the digital era’s advancement, live commerce has gained much more traction.
Currently, it’s in a very nascent stage but has immense potential to grow. According to Redseer, with the current rate of progress, it’s expected to reach a size of $4-5 billion GMV by 2025. It requires a beautiful amalgamation of content, creators, and community to make this the next big thing!
This new-age shopping is more interactive, making the selling and buying experience more seamless as it reduces the discovery to awareness to conversion time. With reduced attention spans and a higher need for personalized and new experiences, video content consumption is very high.
As per Andreessen Horowitz, this will significantly boost recreational categories like beauty, jewellery, fashion and lifestyle products.
The report “How India Shops Online in 2021” (by Bain & Co. and Flipkart) observed that video content had gained momentum in recent times while making way for creators and influencers.
Some top players in this industry in the Indian market are Simsim and Bulbul. YouTube acquired Simsim in July 2021. And as per the above-mentioned reports, these companies made almost 9x and 10x growth over the last year.
Source: How India shops online in 2021, Bain & Co. and Flipkart
Big tech giants are not far behind; be it Facebook, Instagram, or Amazon, all are rolling out a live selling feature.
Scarcity marketing is one of the most used marketing tactics in this sphere. Limited edition and time-specific discounts are top hits in live stream marketing as they create a sense of exclusivity in the minds of consumers.
China is one of the first adopters of live stream shopping as it already accounts for almost 9-10% GMV, and as per Zinnov White Paper, live stream users account for over 50% of China’s internet users in 2019, contributing to a third of China’s e-commerce sale.
Some of the largest e-commerce apps like Taobao Live, JD.com, and Pinduoduo in China have this as an essential feature. Social apps like TikTok, Kuaishou, and Douyin also have this feature.
The two significant enablers that provided a favourable situation for live commerce to grow in China are slowly picking pace in India. These enablers are an ecosystem of talent agencies pushing live stream shopping and a fandom culture where everyone looks up to influencers and creators.
Needless to say, it’s only a matter of time until every other brand catches onto the trend of live stream shopping. Combined with innovations such as gamification, it’s a promising boost for the Indian marketplace.
It’s great to see how companies have evolved.