Achieving Social Commerce Success with Authentic, Interactive and Engaging Content - Coresight Research

Introduction

Social commerce is emerging successful the West arsenic a almighty transmission for brands and retailers to connection customers a highly inspirational, interactive and frictionless buying experience.

Social commerce tin see immoderate online acquisition successful which societal enactment is paired with a seamless path-to-purchase. Examples see buying done societal media platforms, in-game buying and livestream shopping. The social commerce ecosystem comprises 3 layers:

1. Social channels—including societal media platforms, quality apps, messaging apps and video/audio platforms
2. Social commerce marketplaces—spanning livestreaming shopping, peer-to-peer marketplaces, societal buying websites/apps and radical shopping
3. Technology integration—for storefront creation, information analytics, creator affiliate programs and user-generated contented (UGC) enablement

In this Innovator Intelligence report, we sermon cardinal opportunities successful the US societal commerce market, covering UGC, precocious technologies and livestreaming.

This study is sponsored by LiSA, which offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions (ranging from no-code to endeavor to headless) to alteration unrecorded and societal buying experiences connected e-commerce retailers’ and media platforms’ websites. We outline the company’s offerings and competitory advantages successful this report.

Market Scale and Opportunity

According to the Coresight Research US Social Commerce Survey 2022, conducted online successful March 2022, 90% of US consumers usage societal media and 65% usage societal media arsenic portion of the buying process––for discovering, researching oregon purchasing products. Comparing this to our survey findings 2 years prior, we tin spot that consumers are progressively utilizing societal media for shopping: successful March 2020 (effectively pre-pandemic), the adoption complaint was 8.0 percent points lower, astatine 48%.

Livestreaming is simply a cardinal constituent of the societal commerce market, and it is increasing rapidly successful the West (following the occurrence and continued maturation of the established marketplace successful China). We estimation that the US livestreaming e-commerce marketplace volition turn astatine a CAGR of astir 36% from $20 cardinal successful 2022 to $68 cardinal successful 2026, erstwhile livestreaming income volition relationship for implicit 5% of full online income successful the US.

In summation to livestreaming, we expect the maturation of the US societal commerce marketplace to beryllium driven by rising user request for UGC and extended usage of precocious immersive technologies. We volition spot much brands and retailers crook to the transmission to pat opportunities to grow their integer footprint and connection interactive buying experiences, gaining a competitory borderline successful the progressively crowded online space.

Sophie Frères, Co-Founder and CEO of LiSA, told Coresight Research that the Western e-commerce marketplace is opening to participate the maturity signifier erstwhile it comes to embracing unrecorded and societal commerce, but it is highly fragmented. LiSA anticipates e-commerce retailers shifting to a “community-led, UGC and frankincense ‘always on’ approach” to livestream buying successful the abbreviated term. This would construe to better organic maturation on with little lawsuit acquisition costs versus accepted marketing. In the agelong run, the institution envisages a societal commerce ecosystem successful which each players enactment unneurotic to connection consumers a seamless find and acquisition experience.

Achieving Social Commerce Success with Authentic, Interactive and Engaging Content: Coresight Research x LiSA Analysis

In Figure 1, we contiguous 4 opportunities that brands and retailers tin pat to execute occurrence successful the US societal commerce space. We research each successful item below. 

Figure 1. Four Key Opportunities successful US Social Commerce

Source: Coresight Research

UGC Can Boost Customer Engagement

UGC is immoderate signifier of content—images, videos, reviews, testimonials oregon adjacent podcasts—that is created and shared by consumers connected online platforms. One notable signifier of UGC that is applicable to retail is merchandise recommendations and reviews, which shoppers often trust connected to power their acquisition decisions. UGC is effectual due to the fact that it is built connected spot betwixt peers.

In our US Social Commerce Survey 2022, affirmative reviews ranked the 2nd astir cited crushed for buying connected societal media platforms, cited by 54% of consumers who usage societal media arsenic portion of the buying process (behind “great deals,” which was cited by 56%), reflecting user request for assemblage engagement.

Additionally, 61% of marketers person plans to incorporated much UGC into their selling strategy, according to a survey of 500 planetary consumers and marketers conducted by US-based UGC level Tintup successful January 2022.

• Online furnishings store Wayfair has been moving an engaging UGC run #WayfairAtHome. The societal media run allows Wayfair customers to stock their experiences with Wayfair products. It had gained astir 57,000 station shares arsenic of November 25, 2022.

#WayfairAtHome run connected Instagram
Source: Wayfair’s Instagram account

• Chipotle ran a UGC run #guacdance situation connected TikTok connected National Avocado Day successful 2019. The hashtag gained 250,000 video submissions.

Below, we item 3 cardinal benefits of utilizing UGC for selling purposes.

• Establishes spot and credibility among consumers

Authenticity and relatable contented are almighty drivers of engagement connected societal networks. Our US Social Commerce Survey recovered that 30% of societal media shoppers who travel influencers/celebrities connected societal media travel existent customers, reflecting an appetite for UGC that brands tin capitalize connected to physique spot and credibility among shoppers.

• Helps successful the instauration of a community

UGC allows consumers to go a portion of a brand’s maturation by integrating them into an engaged marque community. Consumers that make and interact with UGC go marque advocates and tin power the buying decisions of different radical with akin likes and dislikes with their content. Through engaged users, brands are capable to physique relatable narratives crossed societal media, amended authenticity and amended people imaginable customers.

• Saves resources––time and wealth

UGC is an inexpensive and time-efficient signifier of advertising, which tin beryllium peculiarly beneficial for tiny businesses. Unlike influencer marketing, brands bash not person to wage thing to the creator oregon prosecute an bureau to tally and negociate these campaigns.

Reality Technologies Improve Immersiveness

Consumers are unfastened to utilizing world technologies successful the buying journey: 84% of AR users oregon aboriginal users successful the US are funny (somewhat oregon very) successful utilizing augmented world (AR) to interact with a merchandise earlier buying, according to the 2022 Ipsos Augmentality Shift Study, (a planetary user survey conducted by marketplace probe steadfast Ipsos and Snap, genitor institution of societal media level Snapchat, successful April 2022).

AR and virtual world (VR) alteration brands and retailers to connection entertaining experiences that pull and prosecute customers—tapping the benefits of buying some online (such arsenic convenience) and in-store (trying connected products). Virtual try-on helps customers summation assurance successful their acquisition decisions, expanding conversion and reducing merchandise returns for brands: 4 successful 5 (81%) US shoppers consciousness much assured successful their acquisition a effect of utilizing AR, according to the 2022 Alter Agents survey commissioned by Snap and Publicis Media.

• In November 2022, Amazon Fashion partnered with Snap to make an AR manner acquisition that allows customers to effort connected eyewear successful Snapchat earlier making a acquisition via the Amazon Fashion store. Muge Erdirik Dogan, President of Amazon Fashion, said that done this initiative, Amazon Fashion is further expanding its AR buying capabilities for the caller procreation of integer shoppers.

New buying lens for trying connected eyewear, disposable connected Amazon’s nationalist illustration connected Snapchat
Source: Snapchat

• On October 20, 2022, Seattle-based live-video buying app AIMIRR partnered with Chicago-based customized covering marketplace Balodana to connection virtual try-on during livestreaming utilizing AIMIRR’s real-time AI (artificial intelligence)-driven garment rendering technology. Online customers tin scan a QR codification connected their mobile phones to activate the technology, which overlays images of covering connected a unrecorded video of the individual, utilizing their cameras.

Shoppable Video Ads Bridge the Gap Between Discovery and Purchase

Shoppable video ads let shoppers to acquisition products straight via embedded links wrong the video. This helps businesses span the spread betwixt find and acquisition by enabling instant conversion alternatively than requiring shoppers to hunt for featured products connected antithetic e-commerce sites (which would beryllium an inconvenience that whitethorn punctual them to wantonness the purchase).

Shoppable video ads connected The Fresh Market’s website arsenic of November 25, 2022
Source: The Fresh Market

Social media platforms, including Pinterest and YouTube, person already integrated tools for shoppable video advertising. There is rising involvement among brands and investors successful shoppable video advertising, with immoderate already utilizing the format to simplify the checkout process and boost conversion (including US supermarket concatenation The Fresh Market, pictured above).

• In March 2022, US-based haircare marque Olaplex launched shoppable video ads connected its website. As portion of its selling strategy, the institution has videos featuring UGC from existent customers and employees connected its homepage. Each video has a merchandise nexus that allows customers to adhd the featured merchandise straight to their carts—simplifying the checkout process. According to Olaplex CEO JuE Wong, since the motorboat of the shoppable videos, the haircare marque has witnessed large engagement, starring to an 80% summation successful website conversion and a 15% summation successful mean bid value.
• LiSA’s shoppable video solution allows retailers and brands to easy embed shoppable videos anyplace connected their e-commerce sites. Creating engaging shoppable videos allows businesses to pull much customers, according to the company. Global quality marque Avon leverages LiSA’s shoppable video level to station shoppable video feeds connected its site.

Shoppable videos and livestreams connected Avon’s website
Source: Avon/LiSA

Livestreaming E-Commerce Is Gaining Traction

As we discussed earlier, we spot livestreaming e-commerce arsenic having promising maturation imaginable successful the West implicit the adjacent fewer years. Livestreaming allows for a caller level of enactment betwixt a marque and shoppers during the way to purchase. Hosts (content creators, store associates oregon influencers) show products live, and viewers tin marque comments oregon inquire questions utilizing chat functionality, providing a touchpoint for brands to link with customers, power acquisition decisions and amended conversion.

LiSA’S livestream buying level allows unrecorded interactions utilizing chat functionality
Source: LiSA

The Coresight Research US Livestreaming Tracker recovered that adoption of livestreaming successful the buying process among US consumers has accrued since the commencement of the year: the September 2022 survey showed that 54% of respondents person watched a shoppable livestream—up from 32% successful February 2022. Furthermore, 2 successful 5 (39%) respondents reported successful September that they had bought products done shoppable livestreams successful the past 3 months. We besides tracked a precocious frequence of engagement successful livestreaming, with 89% of livestream viewers reporting that they watched shoppable livestreams astatine slightest erstwhile a period successful the past 3 months (whether unrecorded oregon connected demand)—and fractional reported watching astatine slightest a fewer times a week (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Frequency of Watching Shoppable Livestreams (% of Respondents)

Base: 506 US respondents aged 18+ who person watched a shoppable livestream successful the past 3 months, surveyed successful September 2022
Source: Coresight Research

There are 2 ways successful which retailers and brands are offering livestream buying experiences to their customers, which we sermon below.

• Using third-party platforms

Brands and retailers tin big livestreaming events connected third-party platforms specified arsenic societal media apps (Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat) and online marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Etsy).

Twitter launched an e-commerce inaugural successful November 2021 that included a livestream buying enactment for retailers and brands. Since the Live Shopping level launch, Twitter has partnered with assorted brands and retailers, including Samsung and Walmart, for livestreaming. Walmart was the archetypal retailer to trial Twitter’s livestream buying level with a league that saw instrumentalist and creator Jason Derulo reappraisal assorted products; users were capable to store the featured products done Walmart’s Twitter page.

eBay announced the motorboat of its livestreaming buying platform, eBay Live, successful June 2022. The level focuses connected selling trading cards and collectibles and driving engagement among the collector community. The archetypal livestream league (held successful June 2022) offered uncommon trading cards from eBay seller Bleecker Trading and was hosted by trading-card enthusiast DJ Skee.

• Setting up their ain livestream buying channels

Technology providers assistance brands and retailers to integrate livestream buying features into their ain e-commerce sites.

US-based section store concatenation Nordstrom launched a shoppable, interactive livestream buying level successful concern with LiSA successful March 2021. The livestream transmission streams assorted buying and styling events, including unrecorded quality tutorials, and programs featuring designers specified arsenic Charlotte Tilbury and Anastasia Soare.

Company and Solution Overview: LiSA

Headquartered successful Germany with teams dispersed internationally, LiSA offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for e-commerce retailers and media platforms to bring societal commerce experiences to their online audiences. These solutions scope from no-code to endeavor to headless depending connected the usage lawsuit that a marque desires to enable. The company’s clients see planetary brands specified arsenic Avon USA, L’Oréal and Marks & Spencer (M&S).

LiSA’s solutions alteration brands and retailers to make proprietary unrecorded buying experiences done a customized and, if desired, headless contented absorption strategy (CMS), allowing them to propulsion hosted contented simultaneously to societal media platforms specified arsenic Instagram and TikTok.

LiSA offers 3 unrecorded buying solutions—LiSA POP, LiSA DAZZLE and LiSA SHINE (see Figure 3)—as good arsenic Shoppable Videos, a white-label SaaS solution that allows retailers to usage LiSA’s video-editing tools and embed shoppable videos connected their websites (including past livestream events). It has besides precocious launched a white-label solution called Shoppable Short Stories (think societal media comes to e-commerce), embeddable anyplace connected a brand’s website, done which a marque tin invitation its assemblage to go nonstop on-site contented creators.

Figure 3. LiSA’s Live Shopping Solutions for Brands and Retailers

Source: LiSA/Coresight Research

The institution besides offers back-end SDKs (software improvement kits) for ample e-commerce retailers and marketplaces that privation to make their ain front-end acquisition done a browser oregon app, portion leveraging LiSA’s suite of headless back-end services. This capableness makes LiSA a starring enterprise-ready live-commerce solution supplier globally.

Most recently, successful August 2022, LiSA secured backing of €2.7 cardinal ($2.8 million) during a effect circular led by TechVision Fonds and joined by Venrex and angel capitalist Georgie Smallwood (part of Accel’s Scout programme and Chief Product Officer astatine micro-mobility startup Tier).

Competitive Advantage

LiSA’s competitory vantage lies successful the flexibility of its products to screen a wide scope of exertion usage cases, from no-code unrecorded buying solution (LiSA POP) to a full-fledged community-led endeavor livestreaming instrumentality (LiSA SHINE). Its endeavor unrecorded buying solution tin easy beryllium scaled retired among its clients’ communities and livestreaming partners, enabling accelerated and integrated transmission growth.

The institution focuses connected designing societal commerce products that let brands, retailers and media platforms to negociate contented from aggregate creators successful a decentralized mode simultaneously. According to LiSA, its clients person achieved accrued conversion rates (of up to 37%), societal sharing rates of up to 43% and engagement of up to 91% utilizing its solutions.

Livestream league hosted connected Coach’s website, powered by LiSA
Source: Coach Outlet

Case Studies

Avon

Global quality marque Avon USA partnered with LiSA successful 2020, utilizing LiSA POP to acceptable up its archetypal livestream buying event, with real-time assemblage enactment and a frictionless way to purchase. In total, 17,000 marque representatives attended the lawsuit online. Avon witnessed 90% engagement connected its website, with full income reaching $1.3 million.

Avon present hosts regular buying events connected its website utilizing LiSA DAZZLE. The institution utilizes a community-led strategy to connection customers fresh, breathtaking and authentic services. The caller strategy has helped Avon make 90% assemblage chat engagement and societal sharing rates of up to 43% (meaning that up to 43% of radical successful a unrecorded amusement volition invitation a person to join).

M&S

M&S, a British retailer of food, covering and homeware, archetypal partnered with LiSA successful 2021 to powerfulness a fewer unrecorded buying events for members of its loyalty program.

M&S Home Decoration interactive livestream buying league connected its website
Source: Marks & Spencer

The retailer has continued to enactment with LiSA successful 2021 and 2022 to motorboat aggregate play interactive and shoppable livestreams that alteration customers to observe caller products and airs unrecorded questions to an M&S expert.

On the partnership, LiSA stated:

What made M&S basal retired precise aboriginal was its willingness to clasp its ain assemblage of experts for content. The immense bulk of its unrecorded buying shows are hosted by in-house buyers, stylists oregon in-store colleagues. This community-generated contented is simply a large deed with customers, arsenic evidenced by above-industry-average viewing times of 40% (i.e., connected average, audiences enactment to ticker 40% of a full unrecorded show). This community-led attack besides offers M&S the vantage that the contented is speedy and casual to produce; it is truthful faster to standard its activities.

What We Think

Social commerce is experiencing promising maturation successful the US and is apt to go 1 of the astir fashionable selling and income channels among brands and retailers. Furthermore, arsenic shoppable and unrecorded video contented integrations talk to expanding user request for seamless online buying experiences, we expect much retail companies to participate the livestreaming e-commerce space.

Implications for Brands/Retailers

• Brands and retailers should experimentation and usage innovative and authentic UGC to link with their customers, arsenic good arsenic leveraging community-led engagement to heighten find and let shoppers to marque much educated acquisition decisions, which positively impacts returns rates.
• Leveraging unrecorded buying to turn their assemblage straight successful an integrated mode helps brands, retailers and media platforms to pull caller customers done existing customers and frankincense importantly reduces lawsuit acquisition costs compared to classical “top-of-the-funnel” integer selling activities.
• Brands and retailers that privation to connection livestreaming buying experiences to customers tin bash truthful via their ain websites oregon done third-party platforms; they request to usage the astir due channels to link with their people consumers. Retail companies tin enactment with tech providers to maximize the sales-generating imaginable of livestreams connected some owned oregon third-party sites, providing a seamless buying travel that boosts conversion.

Implications for Technology Vendors

• As the needs and goals of different-sized retailers vary, exertion providers should connection a scope of solutions that cater to circumstantial requirements and alteration retail companies to heighten their societal commerce capabilities.
• Technology providers tin connection scalable solutions that facilitate brands’ and retailers’ introduction into the societal commerce abstraction arsenic good arsenic their maturation and improvement successful the transmission arsenic they physique connected their experiences.

About Coresight Research Innovator Intelligence

Coresight Research Innovator Intelligence reports are produced successful concern with starring firms successful the retail, exertion and startup ecosystems. These reports contiguous adept investigation and proprietary information connected cardinal topics successful the retail, exertion and related industries, and alteration spouse companies to pass their marque and messaging to a wider assemblage wrong the discourse of brand-relevant research.