Live Social Shopping: The Future of E-Commerce?

How Live Social Shopping Works

First, let’s lay out the facts: Live social shopping or live social commerce refers to shopping for products through an interactive livestream, where brands market their products by doing demonstrations, Q&As, or sharing expert tips. Think of it as the social media equivalent of QVC, where customers tune into TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest, to learn about products and buy them.

And this form of selling and shopping goes beyond the hype — results have astounded brands. For instance, Pai Skincare reported a 17% conversion rate within its live shopping events, with these sales making up 10% of its total online revenue. The success stories speak for themselves, highlighting the increasingly important role of leveraging social media to boost sales.

While these platforms play a massive role in live social shopping, other dedicated livecast services like Bambuser, Now Live, Livescale, and Emplifi, have helped companies spread awareness of their live shopping streams and even embed them on the brands’ website to make shopping even easier.

Trying to understand why it works truly boils down to the success of social media: Live social shopping can be a more transparent, authentic, and engaging way of showcasing products. Whether by asking questions through a live chat, participating in exclusive contests and promotions, or simply answering polls, consumers feel included by the brand and get a sense of interacting with the product one-on-one.

It’s evident that technology has made it more possible to recreate the brick-and-mortar shopping experience online thanks to live streaming software, e-commerce platforms with enhanced features, and streamlined payment gateways.

Benefits of Live Social Shopping for Businesses

Live social shopping has bridged the gap between consumers and brands even further. Sarah Potempa, a celebrity stylist with her own hair care brand, usually goes live on TikTok to promote her products and says it brings her closer to her customers, “We have so many people in the livestream, and so many people who comment on social media who have become truly, honestly like part of a family. We know so much about them that we celebrate the wins, and we cry with them on their losses, like they really are very actively involved in the community.”

It’s this sense of community that also fosters honest feedback and direct insights for improvement. Plus, it creates a chain reaction of more visibility that can positively impact brand awareness — everyone with access to the internet and social media can participate.

As a result, companies like Pai Skincare have made themselves known while building a strong sense of belonging for their customers, further driving sales and conversions directly from these livestreams.

This form of selling a product live also creates another channel where people can communicate with brands, increasing their customer service availability and quality that will help them stand out from competitors. And, as any modern company knows, this constant feedback loop and interaction feeds more valuable data to companies, generating a new source of information for better decision-making.

The Challenges and Considerations of Live Social Commerce

This isn’t to say live social shopping doesn’t come without its struggles; this outlet requires specific efforts, equipment, and much consistency to breed the most benefits.

For example, live social commerce can be equipment-intensive and highly dependent on an internet connection, meaning that technical glitches are always a possibility, whether that’s poor audio or video quality, or loss of connectivity. This can disrupt the live experience and throw customers off.

Moreover, consistency is key to yielding the positive outcomes of live social shopping. Staying consistent by scheduling regular livestreams, promoting them, and following through with quality and engaging sessions are vital to getting good results. With time, audiences grow and become accustomed to attending these livestreams.

Likewise, diversifying each transmission makes brands stand out from the crowd as more companies jump on the live shopping bandwagon — this isn’t always easy. Doing so requires productive brainstorming sessions and careful planning to deliver an outstanding experience every time. Otherwise, streams can become flat and uninteresting, driving viewers and potential customers away.

Quality livestreams also stand out through better resources, like a proper ring light or more sophisticated lighting setups, a good microphone, an infallible internet connection, and an attractive backdrop. These elements aren’t a given, requiring time and extra expenses from brands ready to take the plunge into live social commerce.

Real-World Examples and Success Stories

But in praxis, how are companies experiencing live social shopping and how has it impacted them?

Bagriculture

Small seller of second-hand designer bags, Bagriculture, closed its physical stores across New York City with a monthly revenue of $100,000 — they’ve never done better ever since. Its CEO, Anthony Velez, expressed that metrics from live social shopping have exceeded those from any other form of shopping he’s seen as the brand has managed to earn those same $100,000 in just a day. According to him, Bagriculture goes live on three to four platforms simultaneously, and this has helped improve its numbers.

Now, the company has received calls from social media and retailer giants like Poshmark and eBay due to the attention the brand has received. TikTok even flew in to meet with them.

Quivr and Comfrt

Back in 2020, brands had to get creative to continue promoting their products despite the lockdown. Ash Crawford, CEO of nitro tea and coffee company Quivr, was one of them — his idea succeeded. He went live on platforms like Instagram and TikTok from his backyard to continue selling his canned beverages, usually for an hour and with a total viewing of 50 people.

The results paid off after Crawford made Amazon Live his preferred live social shopping platform. There, he says conversion rates are much higher than on other streaming sites. During a session, he claims sales increase by around 150% for the next 24 hours.

And, while this success takes time and consistency for some, it could come overnight for others. Weighted hoodie brand Comfrt experienced it, with CEO Hudson Leogrande sharing that the brand made over $150,000 in sales during its first live social event on TikTok.

Gisou

Gisou, a honey-infused hair care brand, is a testament to the power of live social commerce for building a strong community. Gisou decided to use the niche live social shopping platform Smartzer to launch one of its products. In the stream, the brand did a tutorial to teach customers how to apply the product and see results for themselves, allowing them to ask questions and instantly add products shown on the stream to their carts and check out with ease.

Ultimately, live social shopping helped increase Gisou’s engagement rates by 57% and click-through rates by 62%.

The Future of Live Social Shopping

Experts, like entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, are already saying live social shopping will become the top contender to help brands make money within the next five years. He says that, as brick-and-mortar shopping becomes a more peripheral option for buyers, most brands will turn to live shopping within the next few years.

A recent report by Horizon Media confirms the growing potential of live social shopping: 80% of social shoppers (those who browse social media to buy products) say they make a purchase twice a month. And the stakes are higher, as 61% of Gen X, 75% of Gen Z, and 76% of Millennials who don’t partake in social shopping say they’re ready to do so.

The report also reveals that all three generations are embracing new ways to purchase through social media, gaming experiences, AR, and VR.

Lastly, the findings highlight the importance of building influencer partnerships to boost sales and capitalizing on elements like trending hashtags and seasonal products to increase hype that drives purchases. Working with key opinion leaders, especially those with significant followings and high global reach on social media, will continue to be crucial for brand and sales growth.