What is live commerce?
Live commerce is the combination of live stream videos and eCommerce. It offers an interactive shopping experience for consumers, where they can view product demonstrations live, interact with the sellers, and buy the specific products they see, immediately. Live commerce emulates a real-life shopping experience, but online. It means that consumers can ask questions and view the product before committing to the purchase. Live commerce has been particularly dominant in China, where the market is estimated to reach $305 by the end of 2021, which is a whopping 384% growth compared to 2019. Meaning that it accounts for 15% of all eCommerce purchases in China in 2021. And live commerce is quickly becoming big business for more Western brands. In the shadow of Covid-19 restrictions and tech advancement, eCommerce revenues are projected to grow to a staggering $5.4 trillion by 2022, up from $4.28 trillion in 2020. Meaning that brands are looking for new and exciting ways to engage their audience, online.Who is nailing eCommerce?
As mentioned, China is the trailblazer when it comes to live commerce. But how about brands that are popular in more Western countries? And what inspiration can smaller and UK-specific brands take from these industry leaders? Clarins Clarins originally ran a pilot program of their live commerce in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. They reported conversion rates of up to 30%, and engaged viewers for up to nearly 7 minutes. Since then, the beauty brand has expanded their partnership with live video streaming company Bambuser. Which has enabled them to expand their live commerce and live video shopping to worldwide subsidiaries, including their Virtual Boutique which includes product demos, tutorials, and expert advice. Clarins are also leveraging Bambuser’s One-to-One functionality to offer individual shopping interactions. So that the brand can offer a personalised service to their shoppers, no matter where in the world they are. Stéphanie Gaspar, Digital Customer Experience Manager at Clarins discusses Clarin’s offering: “Clarins is dedicated to constant innovation, and that dedication drives everything from the development of new formulations to the way we reach and interact with our customers. While the retail environment is particularly challenging at this time, it has always been in a constant state of evolution. We are proud to embrace Live Video Shopping, not as a temporary answer to a problem of today, but as a long-term solution that addresses the changing relationship between the digital and physical worlds.”


