If there was a format that was seen as something very old, it was that of the telemarketing. The telemarketing was a kind of resource for the early mornings or for the not-so-expensive advertising moments of linear television. It wasn’t glamorous content and their products weren’t that desirable either, but it was there and it stayed there.
All of this has changed in recent months. The telemarketing has become fashionable, although of course it has not done so by still anchored in the early mornings of television. Now, it’s called live shopping and it works on social networks and the internet. There are no gentlemen showing the virtues of bags that are vacuum sealed with vacuum cleaners, but there are profiles of the online age – such as influencers or brand ambassadors – presenting products and answering questions. Everything is launched on the net and everything is affordable.
The latest to join the trend is Facebook, which will link “shoppable” live videos to brand pages. The initiative is limited and will only operate between May 21 and July 16, at least in the United States. The videos will be in the style that is already known from other spaces. The brand will launch the content live and the receivers will be able to discover while the products are offered. To be able to buy them, you just have to click on them when they appear on the screen.
The format opens with a fashion and beauty brand and with big names already as pioneers of this social telemarketing. Clinique, Sephora, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics or Abercrombie & Fitch are some of the brands with which Facebook has agreed to launch the format.
Of course, Facebook is not the only social network that is testing this format. Snapchat is not as popular in Europe as it is in the United States, but in the latter country it has just launched an in-app shopping format that will include live parties. It is not exactly the same, but it is very close in its essence.
YouTube is also working on these types of functions – or was according to the leaks not long ago – and brands already do live shopping on platforms such as TikTok. The idea has also been integrated into ecommerce and Amazon has an option in its .com version where you can follow this type of content and buy what appears on the screen.
El boom del live shopping
But where did the live shopping boom come from and how has it become so popular? In fairness, it would have to be said that analysts were already pointing in that direction as one of those things that could grow a lot and be crucial for the future of electronic commerce. It is true that they were still talking about potential trends.
What changed was the context and it did so because of the coronavirus crisis. Ecommerce in general became much more important, because consumers were trapped in their homes and wanted to keep shopping. At the same time, they wanted more immersive experiences that created more of the illusion of being in a store. It was there that live shopping came in.
In China, its growth has been overwhelming. Faced with this market, which sets the trend, in the US it is beginning to grow significantly and it is taken for granted that fashion will reach Europe.
Top-level brands and benchmarks in good marketing and advertising practices have entered the format and pioneered using it, which has made the live shopping pull grow.
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