Among the list of things that the coronavirus crisis and the changes in habits caused by the pandemic brought about is the emergency of live shopping also called live commerce. The format started in China and other Asian markets, where lockdown by the pandemic started earlier and where companies first tried to create experiences.
Then, it jumped to the rest of the world, like a new version of the telemarketing. Unlike what happened with the classic television advertisements – and channels – where things are sold, live shopping plays with the realities of the era of social networks. Influencers and content creators were its first protagonists, as well as luxury brands that were trying to create new opportunities and hooks to connect with the audience. Soon it seemed that everyone was testing it and that all the big players in the advertising and social market were trying to position themselves.
Amazon launched a live shopping format in its .com version and Facebook unveiled a specific tool . They all seemed to want to join the trend. Now, with the Christmas campaign just around the corner, what is beginning to seem increasingly clear is that live shopping experiences are going to become one of the highlights of the marketing strategy for the season. In the United States, all the greats are making a move. It is well known that what begins in digital marketing in the US ends up reaching far beyond that market.
Facebook and YouTube will have events
Facebook was among the first to announce that it was launching a series of events for its Christmas campaign. The giant announced that, as of November 1, they will host “daily Live Shopping experiences.” They will be on both Facebook and Instagram and will feature top-level brands (oriented, yes, to the US market).
Benefit, WalMart or Macy’s will be some of the leading brands. At the events, brands will present products (in the press release Facebook insists that it will be a place to find gift ideas) and launch offers. Of course, they will also take action with SMEs, one of those recurring responsibility issues that the large companies do not stop insisting on, specifically in this case with African-American SMEs.
But Facebook will not be alone in this search to position live shopping events in one more way to amortize the Christmas campaign. YouTube has not only announced that it will start testing with live shopping content, as happened recently, but also that it will do so in a special way at Christmas, as it has just revealed now.
For a week starting on November 15, it will feature a specialized event, the YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop . In this case, viewers will be able to buy products, access offers and connect with the creators behind the content. Walmart, Samsung or Verizon will be some of the companies whose products will be seen in the shares, which will feature youtubers.
Although there has not been a big launch, Amazon is also boosting live shopping. According to published Insider , it is one of the items that are selling to advertisers, who is asking high figures (campaigns worth $ 85,000) to launch actions streaming shopping during the Christmas season. They are higher prices than those that these shares have on average (usually they are in the 35,000 dollars).
The final push?
The movement of these big players – the three main players in the advertising market, Google, Facebook and Amazon, are involved – could change the playing field. That is, these actions could become the final push to promote the format and to position it in the market. Perhaps, from there, things will get bigger and bigger and live shopping will become much more ubiquitous and, for these companies, much more profitable.