Gary Vaynerchuk, chair of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia, boasted about selling USD$150k worth of hoodies, sweatshirts, beanies and socks from his brand VeeFriends in four hours through live shopping.
In his LinkedIn post, he called live shopping a “huge untapped opportunity” and said the industry would be talking about it the same way AI is spoken about.
Live shopping is not too different to the idea of home shopping on TV and purchasing orders via phone.
Live shopping is a presentation featuring a host who showcases products to viewers who can purchase those items in real time. The experience also allows the viewers to interact with the host by asking them questions or participating in demonstrations through chat boxes.
China has been at the forefront of live shopping for almost a decade. In 2023, the live streaming e-commerce market in China boomed to nearly five trillion yuan, from 420 billion yuan in 2019, according to Statista.
That is expected to surge to 8.16 trillion Yuan (AUD$1.73 trillion) by 2026.
Australia is only starting to get on board with the trend, and Bread Agency is leading the way with department store retailer Big W, which has already hosted several live shopping streams this year.
Amaury Treguer, co-founder of Bread Agency, spoke to Mediaweek about the rise of live shopping, how Big W talked to their audience, inside the production and the future of the trend in the local market.
Amaury Treguer: ‘The fact that you’ve got branded content where we are selling you something and you’ve got an average view rate of nine minutes is pretty impressive.’
The Global Rise of live shopping and why Big W jumped on board
“It’s very fresh in the country,” Treguer said of the trend, adding the agency is “big believers in the format.”
Inspired by its success across Asia, the US and Europe, he said his team believe it is a game changer for many retailers.
Treguer shared that Big W was already having internal conversations about jumping onto the format before meeting with Bread.
“It took us a fair bit of time to chat to them, make sure everyone within the business was comfortable with the idea as well.
Websites are getting very sophisticated, and the user journey is super seamless. However, the reality is that you’re still facing a website with white backgrounds and product images, which is fairly static and doesn’t offer much more.
“The most advanced would have videos, and that’s usually in fashion with Net-A-Porter and ASOS leading that way with mini clips of the garments moving. But otherwise, it’s a pretty static environment.”
Treguer shared that at the time of filming (late June), the live stream drew in a couple of thousand viewers connecting across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
He called it a “good viewing rate” and noted that the average view time was around eight to nine minutes.
“The fact that you’ve got branded content where we are selling you something and you’ve got an average view rate of nine minutes is pretty impressive.
“When was the last time that you watched a nine-minute video online? I think that’s one of the most outstanding stats.”
Big W chose Mel Buttle (right) for her approachability and alignment with the retailer’s core audience and paired her with Jess Smith (left), who is Senior Category Marketing Manager of Play, for her expertise in the space.
Speaking to the audience: Big W’s approach and the live shopping advantage
Treguer appreciated Big W’s approachable tone with their customers on social media and use of employee-generated content, which creates a sense of proximity.
“It’s not necessarily overly polished, but the majority feels quite authentic and real.”
Big W’s foray into live shopping reinforces the “sense of proximity”, which is doubled down by the chat function between the presentation and the viewers.
“The chat function is powerful because key questions that come through will be answered by the committee manager. Others are then sent to the host and product expert to answer.”
He noted that answering questions adds to the proximity because it creates a connection and closeness.
“People are often surprised and grateful when we answer their questions live online. We’ve seen people ask a question, and then that same person jump back into the chat to say thank you because they didn’t expect it would get answered.
“It almost catches people off guard because they don’t fully understand how the format works yet.”
Another part of the proximity is the role of the host in engaging with the viewers, reminding them to visit the Big W, gamifying the experience with surveys and quizzes, and prompting people to ask questions from whichever of the four platforms they are watching from.
Treguer explained that as host, comedian Mel Buttle, reminded audiences multiple times to send their questions to her or toy expert Jess Smith in the chat box, which is displayed on a screen.
“I like the ongoing interaction because it creates a continuous dialogue between us—the team producing the stream in the background with the client—and the host.”
Big W’s foray into live shopping reinforces the “sense of proximity”, which is doubled down by the chat function between the presentation and the viewers.
How Big W brought the live streaming event to life
In terms of preparations for the live shopping event, Treguer revealed that it begins with a couple of briefing/chemistry sessions with the host and expert.
He explained Big W chose Buttle for her approachability and alignment with the retailer’s core audience and paired her with Smith, who is Senior Category Marketing Manager of Play, for her expertise in the space.
On the day, the crew set up the studio in the early afternoon to do two rehearsals of the presentation before going live later in the evening.
“The idea is to fine-tune it, so it feels like a good story to watch. We call ourselves the story-selling agency, and I think being specialised in social commerce, it’s about creating a story that is of value for the audience.”
The studio set features two cameras with operators, someone live editing and another on the shopping platforms. Meanwhile, one staffer oversees community management and answers questions, as the other funnels questions to Buttle and Smith.
The future of live shopping for Big W and Australia
Treguer believes live shopping is going to be big in Australia and Big W’s lead in the space will create a “domino effect”.
“The more we talk about it, the more people will see the format as an engaging platform.”
He shared that since the launch of Bread Agency, there has been growing interest and conversations with brands about live-stream shopping.
“There’s some certain nervousness about the fact that it’s live, especially with conservative big retailers. The live elements stress them out because their legal teams and external communications are not that flexible and are too much of a risk for them.”
As a result, brands hesitant to jump into live shopping have opted to start with shoppable videos, which demonstrate the product, can be replayed and link to purchasing the products.
With Big W’s toy sale as the fourth ever live stream under Bread’s belt, Treguer said there are plans for more in the new financial year.
“We want to make the production as cost-effective as possible so we can turn live more frequently.”
He explained that the plan is to continue to attach live shopping streams with Big W’s specific promotional events across different categories, from beauty, tech, toys and baby.
Amaury Treguer: ‘We enjoy all the preparation, but when we go live, it’s like, ‘OK, everyone has their role to play,’ and we all jump into action.’
Looking ahead, Treguer said that Bread and Big W have a good partnership and continue to learn about the live shopping experience.
“We work closely together, and you can feel the chemistry both on set and afterwards. We celebrate successful shoots with a bit of champagne. Of course, not every shoot ends that way, and we do a lot of them. But live streaming adds a whole new level of intensity.
“When it’s game on, it’s game on, and I love the energy it brings. We enjoy all the preparation, but when we go live, it’s like, ‘OK, everyone has their role to play,’ and we all jump into action.”
Treguer believes live shopping will be further embraced by the Australian brands and retailers this year, especially with the potential arrival of TikTok Shop.
He said the platform’s popularity overseas will make it a highly anticipated innovation in the local market.
“I think it’s going to help retailers realise the power of live-stream shopping. I think it’s going to broaden the mindsets of people and make them realise the importance of a live-stream shopping strategy.
“From my end, I think the most important one is probably TikTok Shop. It will be a game changer, and we will leverage it for our clients.”
With Bread already on the front foot of producing live shopping streams, Treguer said he’s already fielding conversations from interested brands and potential clients wanting to jump on the trend.
“The shop entertainment elements are so critical. There’s a need for making it engaging, and that’s what makes it successful.
“It can’t just be a new sales funnel. It needs to be more than this. It needs to be edutainment – educational, entertaining. And the ultimate goal is to sell product.”
Top image: Amaury Treguer, Jess Smith, Mel Buttle