“Live shopping makes online shopping less lonely”

Online shopping
has been growing for years, but is it fun? Live shopping specialist
LiveBuy from Berlin doubts this and wants to help online retailers
conquer a new sales channel with live streaming, which turns shopping
on screen into an event.

In China, live shopping is already a mass phenomenon. Chinese live
shopping superstars like Viya and Austin Li Jiaqi sell goods worth
several billion US dollars within a few hours live on TaoBao. Now
online sales campaigns via livestream are also picking up speed
elsewhere. LiveBuy from Berlin is right at the forefront. Launched two
years ago, its customer base already includes brands like Douglas,
Sheego, Tamaris and Kadewe – Douglas already broadcasts daily. Founder
Alex von Harsdorf explains what the special opportunities of the new
channel are and how the tech start-up helps customers to better
exploit the potential of online retail.

What exactly does LiveBuy do? How do you support a retailer or brand?

If we’re honest – and now with the pandemic we all know this
feeling quite well – there is no online “shopping” in the true sense
of the word, but only need fulfilment online. There is no real
browsing, no inspiration; all this cannot be realised online like in
brick and mortar store. That is exactly our approach. We want to
increase the joy of online shopping and support our customers in
implementing live shopping. In essence, this means that we provide the
technology to enable live shopping in a brand’s own shop or in
combination with other online retailers. Basically, all you need is a
smartphone.

Why do you think live shopping has a future in Germany?

The big role model is China. There, shopping live from one’s
smartphone is already big and has leapfrogged QVC, so to speak. There,
20 percent of online retail already takes place via live shopping, and
the trend is rising. All this has only established itself within the
last five to six years. Live shopping is the future of online retail.

Online retailers have so many opportunities to get in touch with
their customers, to talk about their products. It’s not just about
doing live shopping with influencers, but also the CEOs or the
designers. It’s about telling the story behind the product, and the
companies themselves can do that very well. It’s the opposite of
glossy, it’s authentic and much more credible. For viewers, that is
the most interesting.

Photo: LiveBuy

Live shopping still has an image problem in some parts of the
world, you have already mentioned QVC. How do you want to change that?

It depends on the target group. The idea is to sell products via
moving images, but live. And that means you experience it together and
it’s interactive, that’s a big difference. All viewers can
participate, can ask questions, give suggestions, can give each other
tips. Everyone gets a seat in the front row. Live shopping has taken
on a game character, and retailers know exactly who is watching.

Which brands and retailers are already using live shopping?

In Germany we are still at the beginning. But retailers like
Douglas, for example, already broadcast every day. Other customers who
already broadcast regularly include Tamaris, Sheego, Eterna, Kadewe
and Impressionen.

How does live shopping benefit sales? What sales figures can one
expect?

We already reach up to five-figure viewer numbers, but it’s not
yet the case that millions are converted within minutes. The
conversion rate is between 10 and 30 percent, in some cases even
higher. During the one hour that an event is live, 40 percent of the
daily turnover is generated. That means it is extremely well received
among viewers. Customers also buy more often and visit the webshop
more often, they build up a relationship. Success also depends on how
aggressively the event is promoted and how it is presented on the
website.

In your experience, live shopping is suitable for whom?

Before racking one’s brains too much, the goal should always be to
stream regularly. That’s the crime show principle, every Sunday night.
If every show has to be marketed as a single event, it can quickly
become expensive. If, on the other hand, I manage to stream regularly
at the same time, customers can adjust to that. From there, one can
expand if one wants to. With LiveBuy, you even have the choice of
broadcasting the
content in your own online shop or on connected retailer or
marketplace sites – for more reach.

What is the best way to get started?

That would be my second tip: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
It makes sense to start the service with a new campaign and then
maintain it every season, whenever new collections come out. ‘Behind
the Scenes’ is also suitable as a theme, or you explain processes, the
production, introduce people. There is so much to tell, so much more
than just showing a garment on the hanger. All this is nothing new,
it’s just a new channel. And it is much more authentic than glossy
magazines. This is especially important for the younger target group
who want to understand better how the product came about.

How do you get paid? And do you also extend a brand’s or
retailer’s reach?

We provide the infrastructure, consisting of a video feed for the
shop frontend – which enables swipe browsing similar to Tiktok – a
creator app, a dashboard and hosting. Payment is per view. So there’s
no monthly fee, it’s paid by the number of views. We are currently
working on taking care of the reach as well. Firstly via live banner
ads, and secondly via Instagram, but without the shopping function
there. This is called simulcasting, i.e. simultaneous broadcasting via
several platforms.

Photo: LiveBuy

How did you come up with the idea for LiveBuy?

My partners and I have established other companies before. Our
goal was to make online shopping less lonely and more fun. In the
2010s, we observed the trend in Asia and shared the belief that online
shopping could be much improved.

Then in March/April 2020 we put all our eggs in one basket,
interestingly enough in the middle of the pandemic. In August we
founded LiveBuy, and in October the first live shopping took place at
Douglas. Since then, we have broadcast almost 1,500 livestreams and
have 17 employees spread all over Europe. We work fully remotely, we
just kept that from the founding phase when everyone worked from home.

Did you already see much more live shopping as part of the
Christmas business than the previous year?

Absolutely! We are now seeing many many more brands and higher
viewership. Live shopping is a phenomenon that is starting now. The
more people join in, the more it moves into customers’ everyday lives,
the more it becomes a trend.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.de.
Edited and translated by Simone Preuss.