Digital Commerce Next – Live Shopping

February 24, 2023

Source: Digital Commerce Next – Live Shopping

The highest value of Direct Selling is maximized by empowering product evangelists with state-of-the-art tools to educate and passionately-share their favorite consumer goods and services. But, the timeless reality remains: People buy from people they know and trust. Digital Commerce Next is constantly evolving to augment this great truth in buying and selling. The next great disrupter in commerce technology has emerged.

The world’s largest online marketplaces, and consumer goods giants, have been investing hundreds of millions of dollars into their ‘Digital Commerce Next’ solutions. The clear, winning technology is one that encroaches on a differentiator, long held sacred by direct sellers – a live, personalized product presentation of products or services in real-world settings. Amazon, Instagram, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Alibaba, Shopify, and Walmart, have already launched new live shopping platforms for creating high-touch, personalized customer experiences.

But, what is Live Shopping? Live Shopping is a real-time, live-streamed show or presentation of products and services across the Internet. But, unlike TV-based live presentations of products on QVC or HSN, customers do not have to make phone calls to place orders. Customers, using their laptop, tablet or smartphone can place and pay for orders quickly with a few taps on the display of the live show. Customers can even participate in a live chat with other guests, or send questions to the presenter. Moreso, because this new technology is optimized for viewing on mobile devices, customers can watch, interact and order from a live show, wherever an internet connection or cellular network is available.

Live commerce revenue in 2022, in China alone, is estimated to be in excess of $420B. Compare this number to Amazon’s total, global revenue of $513B for 2022, which includes all forms of digital commerce. Further, it’s anticipated that in the next 5 years, live commerce sales will account for up to 20% of all digital shopping. In 2023, worldwide, live commerce sales will exceed $500B.

Live shopping allows consumers to safely engage, inquire, personalize, and place orders in the privacy of their homes, automobiles, and even public transit (not so private) – in other words, wherever life takes them. The profession of Direct Selling simply cannot afford to allow their sales organizations to be left behind. In today’s world of social networks, everyone is a nano, micro, or macro-influencer of some proportion. Live shopping technology has emerged that works specifically for independent, home-based representatives, entrepreneurs and gig workers. These solutions are designed to be very simple to setup, conduct a show, and even more easy to simply attend. The direct selling companies are also able to use the same tools to conduct shows on behalf of their sales organization. In this scenario, your representatives can still receive their commissionable credit for customers placing live show orders using the links that they forwarded to their show guests. These new live shopping platforms like Jenkon’s JoTLive™ are also completely branded to each specific company. So direct sellers do not have to live sell their products from another online marketplace’s web sites.

The intrinsic value of direct selling will only be fully realized by empowering product evangelists, affiliates, and representatives with state-of-the-art tools for sharing their passion smoothly, simply, and yes – digitally. Shoppers are no longer content to engage, when their purchases simply turn them into a buying statistic. The Customer journey that worked yesterday will not work today, and today’s successful journey, will not work tomorrow.

This new era in digital commerce is being driven by consumer demand for authenticity, and dynamic, interactive experiences while shopping. But, you will always have the upper hand, by providing commerce platforms that successfully combine technology and authentic-relationships, to complement each other.