How D2C Brands can build an edge over Ecommerce Marketplaces with Live Shopping ---- 5 min read

The paradigm has shifted – commerce is now driven by buyers and buyers are in full control of their buying journey and decision making. For buyers, a good experience is not just about the purchase stage but also encircles the pre and post-purchase stages. And hence to deliver this seamless and satisfying shopping experience, brands are adopting direct-to-consumer models.

In this blog, we will uncover how Live Stream Shopping can help D2C brands build an edge over E-Commerce marketplaces.

To sell to consumers, you need somewhere to sell from, and that boils down to two different places: Marketplaces or your D2C Store. The D2C model gives power to brands as it allows them to directly connect and engage with their customers without relying on go-betweens. It also gives brands the overall control of brand positioning and customer experience. D2C brands today are increasingly adopting the Live Stream Shopping trend.

Live Video Shopping enables D2C brands to set themselves apart from eCommerce marketplaces. This is because of the personalized nature of the customer experience that D2C brands can offer via Live Stream Shopping. As a result, D2C brands with their own websites or apps resonate more with customers, thus resulting in increased sales.

Here is how Live Stream Shopping gives D2C brands an edge over marketplaces.

Provides a Digitalized Brick-and-Mortar Experience

Live streaming eCommerce enables D2C brands to offer an experience that involves human interaction and personalization. Shoppers can enjoy the comfort of their homes, and at the same time virtually be at a shop and ask hosts questions in real-time.

The host, on the other hand, can demonstrate how products work, showcase fine details that are important for purchase decisions, give buyers close-ups, and clear their doubts. Hence, Livestream Shopping offers a brick-and-mortar purchasing experience that is lacking in marketplaces.

Quickly Generates Enormous Sales

Implementing sales strategies like giveaways, running discounts, flash sales, auctions, and limited-time offers during a live shopping show can help brands generate more sales, and discourage buyers from abandoning their online shopping carts. 

Furthermore, D2C Brands can also market their products and services in real-time and visually captivate their audiences while providing useful information, gaining customer mindshare, creating more opportunities for discussion, eliciting an immediate response from customers, and ultimately leading to product sales. 

As a result, D2C brands have an advantage over marketplaces when using Live Stream Shopping as a sales and marketing tool.

Builds Brand Awareness

Many brands are shrouded in mystery because customers have no idea how their products are developed, manufactured, and marketed.

But D2C brands that are opening up their processes via Live Shopping Shows are finding a new level of engagement that’s instrumental in building trust.

Offering shoppers a glimpse behind the scenes and introducing them to your employees in a relaxed environment or telling them brand stories etc, play an important role in creating brand awareness.

Furthermore, Streaming Complementary Content is an added advantage of Live Online Shopping that can enhance your brand’s perception and lead to brand loyalty.

For example, a host while hosting a Live Shopping Show for a fitness brand can show a new workout routine and also refer to a certain piece of gym equipment that the audience can buy on the go.

Live Video Shopping also enables D2C brands to associate their products with popular influencers, increasing their brand’s popularity among customers and, as a result, increasing exposure. 

Brand Authenticity

Authenticity is one of the most important qualities that shoppers look for when putting their trust in brands. Live Stream Shopping can add an element of authenticity many brands have a hard time establishing when they sell via marketplaces. In Live Stream Shopping, there’s no video editing or photoshopping, this enables buyers to see exactly what they’ll get. It’s unscripted and unedited!

During a live shopping show, buyers watch hosts use, wear, or test products they’re promoting or launching. Additionally, they can see real people telling real stories about products, which enhances the credibility and conviction of a brand.

Read More: How Ecommerce Brands can provide Product Experiences that convert to Sales.

Creating a Community around the Brand

Live Shopping is a Communal Activity. During a Live Shopping Show, customers are there with others who validate their tastes and give them a sense of belongingness. 

Live Shopping gives D2C brands an opportunity to cultivate an online community by encouraging customers to ask and answer questions about sizing, fit, and styling during a live shopping show. Thus Live Shopping is regarded as a community-building tool that provides customers a medium to share their feedback, ideas, and opinions in real-time. 

Higher Customer Retention Rate

Through Live Shopping D2C brands can directly interact with consumers that buy their products. Thus, brands can get a clear picture of buyer behavior, and can easily make improvements on their offers based on customer feedback. This is something that can result in customer satisfaction and retention which is lacking in marketplaces.

With Live Shopping within your e-commerce website and apps, all the gains in engagement and retention stay within your website and apps.

Read More: Live Streaming Commerce, an effective Marketing Strategy for Ecommerce.

Greater Brand Control

While selling via marketplaces, brands have little to no control over how their brands are portrayed or how shoppers are influenced.

Live Stream Shopping allows brands to control how their brand is perceived and how customer experience is throughout each step of the buying process, from the initial marketing touchpoint for shopping shows to the post-buying follow-ups. 

In a Nutshell,

Live stream shopping has made it easy for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to increase their popularity, boost customer engagement, grow their sales, and ultimately have an edge over e-commerce marketplaces.  Channelize.io Live Shopping Platform can help your brand reap the benefits of selling directly to customers while generating sales.

For instance, by leveraging Channelize.io Live Stream Shopping Platform, Cloverdilly Kids, a kids apparel D2C brand, is producing engaging Live Shopping Shows for buyers, that are helping them Accelerate Sales, Drive Authentic Customer Engagement, and Bridge the Online-offline Gap. Click here to know the success stories of many such D2C brands.

Additionally, our newly launched Embed Code Feature enables D2C brands and Retailers to add Shopping Shows, both live and recorded, on their websites as well as any other web pages by simply Embedding a small Code Snippet. This is a fantastic approach to expand the reach of your Shopping Shows and Products, and hence boost revenue. 

If you would like to learn more about how Channelize.io can help your brand, feel free to book a free demo!