How to hold a good live shopping event

So you’ve decided to get on the live shopping trend, but don’t know where to start?

Standing in front of a camera and livestreaming yourself, for who knows how many viewers might be really difficult and nerve-racking at first, since there are no retakes or editing to fix mistakes. Worry not, as it gets easier with time. Some may even delegate this job to other parties such as influencers or celebrities, which is bound to bring in viewership and a great conversion rate. Some may even think that hiring entertainers is the only way to succeed, but that is not true. 

Even everyday people like you and me can succeed at holding a successful live shopping event. In the end, it all comes down to the format, the script, and the ability to think quickly.

Preparing for your live shopping journey

Before you go and walk in front of the camera and start talking to your potential customers about your product, you need to figure out some things. What platform are you using? Who are your customers? What are your goals from using live shopping?

What platform fits your need

Ever since the live shopping trend started gaining traction, hundreds of different platforms and options for live shopping streaming have popped up from the woodworks. There are apps for eCommerce sites like Shopify and WordPress, that allow the owner of the website to add a livestream section on their site, from where the customers can follow the ongoing live shopping stream without having to install any extra software. Live shopping has also made its way into popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok, which are great platforms for reaching younger audiences.

Who are your customers exactly?

It’s a good practice to create buyer personas and buyer journeys. You can start building these by asking questions from your audience that you have beforehand or that you wish you had. Stores that sell pet food can figure out a lot from just the information that they are in fact selling pet-related products. Meaning that their buyers are most likely pet owners. Using this kind of thinking you can figure out information like age range and what the customers are looking for in a product.

In a similar way influencers getting into live shopping can look through their followers and form a clear sense of what’s the connecting factor between them. Like, are the followers interested in the protection of the environment?

Usage of analytics tools such as google analytics can be used to help build an even sharper image of your buyer persona.

What are your goals?

WIth a clear goal in mind planning out the format and writing the script will become a lot easier, since you know what you will be aiming for with your live performance. 

Is your main goal getting revenue from sales, or maybe deepening your bonds with the viewers? There are many different goals that you can aim for, but of course the whole idea of live shopping is to sell the product, so that will always be a goal in the background.

Just trying to sell the product might not always be the smartest option. Sometimes gaining viewership and getting familiar with the types of buyers that visit your store or stream will be more beneficial in the long run. 

Choosing the format best suited for you

Choosing the right format is an important part in keeping viewers engaged in your live shopping livestream. You’ve chosen your platform, your products, and your goals. Now you must decide in which way you wish to present yourself and the products.

The way to present yourself is highly tied to the target group and the product you are selling. When selling fashion products to younger audiences do you want to focus on the price of the product, talk about how environmentally clean it is, or maybe the ethicality of it? Or when selling home electronics to middle-aged people, should you talk about the product’s durability or other features.

On top of just talking about the product, the greatest feature of live shopping is that you can show the product in use, be it a microwave or a piece of clothing. It’s important to find the right way of presenting the product and presenting YOU. Be it a runway show or a product review, make the event look like yourself, and stand out from the rest.

The more enjoyable time viewers are having watching your live shopping livestream, the more likely they are to turn from viewers to customers. Furthermore, if the viewers find you entertaining, word is sure to spread around bringing in more viewers and possible customers.

Script

When you are done with the format, the next step is to write a script to go with it. The script that you write shouldn’t be written in too much detail, sinec when doing things live, with an audience there will always be surprises that you cannot account for in the writing process. Things such as technical difficulties or even people asking unexpected questions in the chat may disrupt the flow of your script.

When writing the script you should focus on thinking about the main points that you wish to do on the livestream. It’s important to leave some wiggle room that can be filled with improvisation.

A live shopping stream that is too stiff may feel offputting for viewers, which may lead to loss of viewership and potential buyers. If it fits in your format, you should try to be as close to the viewer as possible. Follow your script, but don’t fear going off script to make viewers feel known and appreciated.

The main parts to script can be a simple as:

• The beginning

• what to say of the products

• the order of products shown

• Answering questions

• The ending

Different formats will of course require scripts of different variety and specificity. In some formats more lenient scripts will work better than stiffer and in some the other way around.

It goes without saying that sometimes a stiff script will work better, for example in very professional live shopping events where the viewers will be more interested in the product itself, rather than the one presenting it.

As a last tip,instead of doing a call to action at the end of the live shopping stream, you should scatter CTA’s for the length of the whole stream. Spreading CTA’s throughout helps you fight against card abandonment by reminding customers what they are there for.

Gaining and retaining viewership

Viewers and potential buyers won’t appear to follow the live shopping event, if they do not know about it. Remember to market your event in your social media and other platforms, from where you can reach your audience. Consider using paid ads to get customers outside of your follower base. If you have a online store, put banners on your site advertising your events. Give incentives for people to come and watch the event, such as giveaways and discounts.

The first live shopping stream

In your first live shopping stream things will most likely go wrong, and that’s okay. Learn from your mistakes and improve over time.

It’s good to go over the script you have written previously, and practice the main points of it. You may not me able to follow the scripts smaller details, but atleast you can keep the livestream from getting derailed completely by following your own guidelines.

Plan it, market it and increase your revenue and customer base with the future of e-commerce, live shopping.