Brands considering a live-shopping strategy must rely on influencers – TechCrunch

Direct shopping – the seamless and simultaneous combination of online shopping, live streaming and social media – has taken North America by storm since October 2019. Although it is booming more than 13% of all e-commerce sales in China, the North American set is still new to this innovation, where influencers turn celebrity power into selling power by moving millions of dollars worth of perfumes, products, and even seating. on a rocket launcher.

In Canada, cosmetics brand Urban Decay has introduced a deeper meaning of “see now, buy now” through its first use of direct shopping in October 2019. Since this first foray into the physical-digital Far West, live shopping is on the way to becoming a $ 11 billion industry in the United States by the end of the year.

While “online shopping” has been the buzz word on brand marketers’ lips, adoption poses many questions. One of the most pressing questions we’ve seen around emails, webinars, and routine Zoom calls is deciding who should be the face of these live buying events and how a new normal in the world should be. industry for selection, payment and expertise can be implemented.

As the director of marketing and communications at a live shopping startup in North America, I’ve seen adopters across the continent soar to success – or learn big lessons.

After watching the influencer market achieve its current success, I want to explain how brands should select, compensate and coach their influencer hosts, as well as outline some key terms that industry players should keep in mind.

Start with influencers from day one

Knix, the Canadian women’s underwear brand founded by a woman, has a model that thrives with its community of customers and the ambassadors who bring it to life. The brand has entered a $ 46 billion lingerie market to usher in a new era of waterproof underwear, activewear and loungewear, designed around real reviews from real consumers.

A turning point came when the brand moved entirely from retail to direct-to-consumer in 2016, focusing on connecting and communicating with customers online. Knix has also built a strong influencer affiliate strategy, seeding the product and offering exclusive 10% discount codes to communities close to their influencer affiliates.

Earlier this year, Knix also became the first lingerie brand to launch with Live scale, using direct shopping to add extra excitement to its buzz-worthy swimwear launch. Hosted by influencer Sarah Nicole Landry, real Knix customers, and Knix founder Joanna Griffiths, the first event exceeded expectations, placing overall sales conversion well above the live buy average, and certainly for a first event.

The live shopping experience was the first to combine social media strategies with the expertise of the Knix brand team, showcasing online surveys, gamification features and direct shopping paths without never leave the brand’s social channels, website and online newsletter.

The secret? In part, the organic community culture the brand has worked for for years – complemented by the selection of an influencer host who has known the brand for years and can speak directly about its merits without a second thought.

Expertise is more crucial than following

Yes, live shopping events with famous hosts can make the news, but that doesn’t mean they always have the biggest sales.

A well-organized script with a passionate spokesperson is more important than budget hosts, flashy names, and buzzing PR tactics, according to our data. The TL; DR? Let your host’s authentic connection to their audience shine more than anything else.