Buying online has already become a routine activity for many people. But what if you could purchase the desired products while watching a live stream from the company you like or even through influencers you follow? This is the live-commerce proposal, a sales strategy that is booming in other countries and is already being positively explored by major brands here – with enormous potential to be further invested in by domestic companies to expand their market reach and, consequently, boost their profits.
Adherence to this strategy has been significantly improved over the past few years worldwide. In China, for example, data released in the High-Quality Development Report of the Live Streaming E-commerce Industry showed that the penetration rate of this type of e-commerce increased from 4.9% to 37.8% between 2019 and 2023, reaching approximately 597 million users just last year.
This popularity was quickly noticed by other nations, including Brazil. This year, many brands took the opportunity to test the strategy of combining live streams with online sales during Black Friday, achieving huge revenues that drew the market's attention to the possibilities and opportunities that live commerce can bring to their businesses.
After all, in addition to the fact that many Brazilians have the habit of frequently buying online, further favored by the growth of social networks, we have also witnessed the popularity of live broadcasts in the country in recent years – mainly due to the pandemic, where, because we are at home, digital operations ended up becoming the only way for many companies to remain open remotely.
Influencers also gained prominence in this regard, forming partnerships with certain brands to promote their products to their loyal network of followers. By becoming spokespersons, they pass on credibility and security to their fans in promoting these items, increasingly engaging more people to purchase these products.
Chronologically, this live sales strategy is not a novelty in the market, as many broadcasters in the past already did this through scarcity speeches about their items, aiming to create a sense of urgency for consumers to buy. What is currently gaining so much attention with live commerce is the fact that, with the support of social media, influencers, and technological tools, it enables greater interactivity and personalization of products.
In these live sessions, companies can make their relationship with their target audience more dynamic and less rigid than with traditional e-commerce. Take advantage of real-time monitoring of your clients to interact through questions and answers, offer exclusive deals to those watching, conduct polls, giveaways, and many other activities that engage, attract, and retain more and more people.
Many national broadcasters are also exploring this scheme in their programs, aiming to reach an audience that is less engaged with social media and also has an interest in certain products. A very smart strategy in terms of sales, increasing reach beyond digital.
The live commerce market still has a lot of room to grow, with enough space for companies to innovate, be creative, and promote their name against competitors. But, like any other business, the same challenges in terms of customer service remain, highlighting the importance of managing all communication logistics with your audience before, during, and after the sale.
As much as social networks are a very attractive stage for this, there is still a wide framework behind it supporting this process – which must be composed of strategiesomnichannelthat combine robust digital channels to complement the customer journey, so that they can choose where and how to communicate with their brands.
With a well-structured consumer base, there are many communication channels that can be explored to publicize the realization of these live broadcasts, announce the products that will be promoted and, after the broadcast, continue to serve customers with the same interaction and personalization, and support them with any demands they may have later.
A great resource that we have on the market today, in this sense, is RCS, Google's messaging system that allows the sending of texts, images, gifs, and a complete carousel in messages, ensured by a company authentication seal verified by the multinational itself.
Much more can still be explored by companies with live commerce, already showing itself as a trend capable of significantly boosting corporate sales and engagement with their audience. Results, these, which will only be achieved through the precautions highlighted above, so that users have all the necessary support to guide and interact with their shopping journey on channels they are aligned with, creating memorable experiences and relationships between the parties.
