A new year presents the perfect opportunity to take your Live Shopping to the next level. To help get you there, we’ve put together the five most vital consumer trends recognized in global retail right now.
We’ve taken the trends from our more comprehensive Bambuser Academy Q1 guide to Live Shopping Success, and pulled data from our top performing clients who are already using the trends to achieve strong results.
Enjoy this exclusive sneak peek!
1. Personalization as
the new battleground
With “reassurance” and “personalization” being consumer behavior keywords, it’s no surprise that in the past year we’ve seen a steady growth of businesses investing in personalized communication methods. In 2023 this trend is set to accelerate and deeply impact Live Shopping adoption.
The combination of insightful customer data, the increasing importance of customer loyalty and the merging of physical and digital retail is pushing all industries to find ways to engage with their customers in more personal ways. At the same time, modern consumers are now looking for deeper relationships with their favorite brands and expect to be seen as the individuals they are.
One-on-one consultations are a powerful way to provide customers with exactly what they want. In-store appointments have played a key role in retail the past years, and now businesses are bringing them into the digital realm through Live Shopping and achieving incredible results.
With solutions like Bambuser’s One-to-One, brands can offer personalized consultations via ecommerce directly to their customers who can either book appointments or drop in. Essentially, the experience of visiting a physical store is being recreated online.
Brands within the luxury sector – and industries with high priced items such as vehicles – have jumped on this opportunity, leading us to predict that personalized Live Shopping will boom in 2023.
If you want to know more about the powerful results one-to-one consultations can provide, see our case study on how the largest electronics retailer in the Nordics has managed to hit a conversion rate of 30% and increase their revenue margin significantly.
Both VR and AR will play impactful roles in online shopping, but AR especially is gaining popularity.
Cecilia Demant, Head of Bambuser Academy
2. Immersive technologies will drive revenue
With AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) becoming more refined, the technologies are revealing how they can really add value for customers. AR enables exciting ways for customers to experience products in a real life setting, and VR delivers full immersion, allowing customers to interact with products in a hyper-realistic but simulated setting.
Both will play impactful different roles in online shopping but AR especially is gaining popularity. With nothing more than a smartphone it allows customers to visualize products in the scenarios they would use them. They can test how a chair would look in a living room or try on lipstick to see if the color suits them.
Bambuser is the first Live Shopping provider to combine the power of AR with Video Commerce in the new Virtual Try-On feature within our One-to-One solution. Thanks to our partnership with AR industry-leader Perfect Corp, beauty brands can offer customers the chance to try on cosmetic products virtually within the shoppable video calls, skyrocketing their conversion rate through better visualization.
3. Inflation will trigger a change in spending priorities
It comes as no surprise that the current levels of inflation will trigger changes in our spending habits. Consumers will take a good look at their finances and make new, more strict spending rules that will most likely result in less spending on things such as restaurant visits, food deliveries, experiences and gym memberships.
The global information and research services company, NielsenIQ has stated that instead we’ll see consumers opt for a more selective shopping behavior, with budget items and private label products in higher demand. They’ll be looking out for discounts, minimizing waste and taking more time researching products before buying.
“The pandemic pushed consumers to see new possibilities in their homes”
Cecilia Demant, Head of Bambuser Academy
4. Stay-at-home experiences will be on the rise
Because of these frugal spending habits, people will want to create more experiences at home. The pandemic pushed consumers to see new possibilities in their homes and the environments they provide.
2023 will see an increase in stay-at-home experiences such as movie nights replacing cinema visits, restaurant dishes being recreated at home, and even DIY spa treatments.
5. 24/7 customer service is the new norm
Every new year brings new expectations for customer service and 2023 is no different. These days customer service is often the main touch point for consumers, so it’s paramount that brands are best in class and always available. The Future of Commerce says that right now 87% of consumers spend less or completely stop shopping with brands that don’t provide great customer service.
Live Shopping is the perfect tool to deal with customer service demands because it can be leveraged to answer product related questions with a human touch. Combined with AI chatbots, Live Shopping creates a powerful combination that puts brands where their customers need them, when they need them.
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