The advent of social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube gave rise to modern marketing and the ability to reach more customers, convert them and retain them. The purpose of shoppertainment is to demonstrate, market, and sell products online using live video streaming. A consumer’s everyday life and eCommerce are combined to create Shoppertainment, and web-based events deliver an engaging and informative experience much like their in-person alternatives before the pandemic.
Since eCommerce is no longer purely price-driven, shopper entertainment is essential. Customer experience, loyalty, and trust play a significant role in making customers willing to try new brands. A website’s ability to engage users remains a challenge. With the help of live video shopping, you can utilize the entertainment tactic to attract and retain customers. Therefore, social shopping increases the likelihood that customers will add items to their shopping cart. The proliferation of social media has enabled more people to be “influencers.” As a result, brands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Companies have created strategies to capitalize on this trend.
Shoppertainment – what makes your products more shoppable and entertaining for customers? We will dive into the evolution of the market to help you understand how to turn your target audience into loyal customers:
Livestreaming eCommerce –
Rapid growth is occurring in the eCommerce industry. According to Statista, 2.14 billion people are likely to make digital purchases in 2021. There are a lot of online shoppers! It has been a boon for eCommerce, despite the 20/20 pandemic having halted in many industries. Online buying behaviour is clearly changing as evidenced by these statistics. They still buy to solve problems, raise their status quo, remain on top of trends, achieve social validation, be happy, and ease their stress, but how they buy online has changed drastically. There has been a lack of that “not-so-human touch” in the online shopping experience for both buyers and sellers. Online interactions are as important as those with offline customers. On the contrary, you must do your best to make the purchasing process as simple as possible.
Both the seller and the customer benefit from live commerce. Video entertainment shopping, also known as live commerce, allows sellers in India to communicate with their customers as they sit in the US, UK, Taiwan, New Zealand, or anywhere else in the world. The experience is similar to in-store shopping.
The online sellers prepare their scripts for a meeting, greeting, and communicating with their online customers using lights and a cinematic approach. Using video, photo, and audio, sellers are able to showcase their products live and that too in all forms of multimedia.
As a live broadcast e-commerce phenomenon, it is a huge hit in China. Live eCommerce in China is expected to reach $409 billion in transaction value in 2022, according to reports.
The fact that live eCommerce works are largely responsible for its success. In addition to being interactive, video marketing sells more than other types of marketing. The content of live streaming is very entertaining, resulting in shoppers preferring it over other options. Influencers hold a more authoritative position with their target audiences, which is why brands seek their endorsement through influencers.
Particularly in China, Livestream eCommerce is very popular because it is entertaining and interactive and provides the seller with a chance to interact with their buyers and give them live answers. This, in turn, greatly benefits the seller’s business since the buyers can make a quick decision about whether the product is suitable for them.
The gamification revolution is here –
In many cases, online shopping consists of adding items to your cart, paying for the items, and waiting for your parcel to arrive. Although it is convenient, it is a tedious process. Besides having plenty to offer, shopping malls and outlets also provide a fun experience. While e-commerce may offer more items, it’s not enjoyable. The future of online shopping is still far from being achieved.”
As part of shoppertainment, gamification helps solve this problem by entertaining audiences and persuading them to become paying customers. Making nongame concepts like online shopping more engaging and interactive is achieved by introducing game mechanics and elements. Rewards for engagement can be earned in the form of vouchers, discounts, and points, so users are even more motivated to continue participating. Gamification generates customer engagement by capturing their attention and keeping them engaged. Also, it influences the customer’s intent to repurchase while helping them focus on the buying process.
To make sure you are ready for this content-centric strategy, consider the following:
- Customer interaction should be enhanced by shoppertainment that is appropriate for the brand positioning. Don’t just do something for the sake of doing it.
- Engaging your audience requires relevant content. It was discovered that consumers in different countries had different preferences for live-streaming (length and format of execution, content quality, host friendliness, etc.) which all affected conversion rates.
- Be sure to track the results of your marketing investments to ensure ROI. Content should be adapted as data is collected with the goal of consistently improving conversions.
- To ensure the brand closes the loop, brands must strike an appropriate balance between entertainment and sales. The purpose of entertainment content is not to sell retail products. Rather, it should build brand recognition.
As part of omnichannel marketing, in-game advertising is also a popular tool brands are turning to. This concept would be ideal for “shoppertainment”, as it offers key benefits to advertisers.
By leveraging the power of in-game advertising, brands can form deeper connections with their consumers. Engaging and interacting with prospects is easier than ever before with this platform. Advertisements integrated directly into the gameplay of some of the world’s most popular games enable brands to promote their products seamlessly. In addition to using in-game coupons with real value, brands can also use in-game coupons to drive sales.
All brands recognize the importance of creating engaging, consistent, and entertaining customer experiences. As a marketer, it’s not too late to start integrating “Shoppertainment” into your marketing strategy if you haven’t already done so.
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