How Live Shopping Can Triple Your Ecommerce Conversions

The 2.5% – 3% conversion rate can be attributed to a number of things:

• Confusing navigation and long purchase journeys: Complex navigation structures and lengthy purchase processes frustrate users and increase cart abandonment rates.  This includes outdated search functionality; poor search functionality, especially on mobile devices, frustrates shoppers and leads to abandonment. Navigation needs to be simple, incorporating product recommendations, and streamlined the checkout process.
• Non-interactive product pages: Lack of interactive elements (or low quality ones) such as videos and 3D models on product pages fails to engage modern shoppers and can potentially hinder conversions.
• Lack of overall engagement: When you’re at a physical store, you have store associates there to engage with as well as other shoppers, there’s music and movement and excitement. Today’s ecommerce sites are a complete opposite – they are static and quiet and often quite boring to buy from.
• Lack of shopping assistance: No live chat support or guidance while shopping hinders conversions, as shoppers may have unanswered questions or concerns.
• Site optimization for mobile: Many eCommerce sites are not optimized for mobile devices, leading to lower conversion rates despite high mobile traffic. Slow loading speeds, difficult navigation, and poor rendering of images contribute to this problem. And we understand, having a whole mobile site (or mobile app) is an investment.
• Inaccessible discounts and offers: Most shoppers would want to see or claim special offers, and if discounts are not readily visible or accessible, especially to price-sensitive shoppers, it hampers the conversion process.
• Lack of trust: In a crowded marketplace, establishing trust with customers is crucial for conversions. Lack of information about products or brands can lead to skepticism. Utilizing social proof through reviews and testimonials is key. Shoppers often seek social proof like ratings, reviews, and testimonials to validate their purchase decisions.

Live shopping can accelerate conversions by offering greater immersion than traditional ecommerce. While it can be done on social media platforms, buywith ensures that the live shopping event is held on your ecommerce site, for better control and a seamless integration.  

By integrating live interaction via Q&As, reviews, and chat, live shopping delivers an engaging experience for online shoppers that surpasses mere browsing on static digital marketplaces. Immersive experiences facilitated by live shopping include product tutorials, demonstrations, interviews with industry / product experts and trusted influencers / live shopping hosts, as well as “behind the scenes” glimpses of the product. Sustaining the interest of live shopping viewers can effectively propel them along the customer buyer journey, ushering them from the awareness stage to making a purchase. As such, live shopping becomes a single, but very valuable touchpoint that alone can boost conversion rates by up to 42%. 

Buywith has two patented solutions that can alleviate the issues that plague ecommerce conversion rates: one-to-many live shopping and one-to-one live shopping.

One-to-many live shopping entails presenting products to a broad audience during a scheduled livestream session. Typically, it emphasizes targeted promotional events or product marketing, and with buywith’s patented solution, the live shopping event happens on your ecommerce site. It alleviates the investment needed for logistics to bring livestream shopping on social media platforms, which are a popular alternative, and is a more economical and practical way to make livestream shopping a sustained marketing strategy moving forward.

This solves several of the above issues with conversion, boosting conversion by up to 42% as per buywith’s proprietary data:

• Shortens the purchase journey: The purchase funnel is shortened with a live shopping event, as products are discoverable immediately through the live shopping host’s picks. Plus, buywith’s platform enables customers to add items to carts while the live shopping event is going on through an engaging “WANT” button feature. Thereafter, customers can checkout quickly and seamlessly on the ecommerce site.
• Provides interaction compared to static ecommerce storers: An engaging live shopping host is able to showcase products, answer questions, and provide a lively two-way conversation which is more likely to boost conversions compared to static product pages. Plus, the host can easily have exclusive discounts at hand for attendees.
• Fortifies trust: a live shopping host is trained with product details, and brings their own influencer audience to the live shopping event, amplifying the testimonials and product recommendations with their authentic views on the products. As such, the brand benefits from the influencer and live shopping host’s own vote for the products and brand.

One-to-one live shopping enables brands and retailers to experience live interactions between product experts and customers on an individual level. It provides real-time personalized assistance on a variety of topics. For those who are inundated with chatbots and long customer service waits, it provides them with their own personalized shopping journeys, which in turn can boost conversions as follows.

• Provides real live human interaction and assistance: Live shopping hosts can showcase products, demonstrate features, and provide in-depth explanations. By uing one-to-one live shopping as a means to connect users to a customer support, a product expert or a personal shopper/stylist, it immediately renders online shopping more captivating. This significantly elevates the likelihood of a purchase by driving consumers past the consideration phase quicker. 
• Answers queries, suggests recommendations or discounts in real time: The ability to connect with an expert, influencer or personal shopper/stylist can extend personalized support to customers, creating a tailored and interactive shopping experience. This dynamic enables the host to promptly address inquiries and efficiently resolve issues in real time. This expedites shoppers through the consideration phase to purchase. 
• More cost effective than building a mobile app or site: buywith offers a variety of solutions that are significantly lower investment than elaborately building a mobile app or mobile responsive site, especially as conversion is amplified due to the interactive nature of live shopping.