Live streaming: How businesses move viewership into revenue
29 December, 2020
Live streaming had been gaining traction before the pandemic, but COVID-19 turned it from novelty to necessity. Money Brain looks at what it needs to turn viewership into revenue.
From any online device all over the world - you can view pandas laze the day away at their home in Chengdu, or have a look at exceptional artifacts in a museum overseas.
This is thanks to live streaming - or the broadcasting of live video in real time.
Live streaming 's been around since the start of the Internet. But increasingly, businesses around the world are right now catching on to the potential of such video tutorial streams to market and sell their items.
Among the pioneers was first the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Taobao Live premiered in 2016.
In 2020, like a great many other online systems, it saw growth during the pandemic. From February 2020, the quantity of businesses that adopted live streaming for the very first time on the system has jumped by 700 %, said Ms Bonnie Zhao, brain of Taobao Live Merchandise at Alibaba Group.
"When offline retail was not in a position to proceed in the standard method, through live streaming, we furnished for entrepreneurs which gave them a fresh lifeline," stated Ms Zhao.
SHOPPERTAINMENT
It's estimated that about 560 million people use live streaming in China. That's about 62 per cent of the country’s final number of Internet users.
This user base has spawned a fresh concept - “shoppertainment” - or the integration of entertainment and commerce.
China’s live streaming e-commerce sector was worth an estimated US$60 billion in 2019, and is likely to double by the end of this year.
Such growth has been helped by quick advances in technology.
Mobile phone screens have increased in size, and the network in China has moved rapidly from 2G to 5G.
All of those other world is increasingly catching up too.
LUXURY LIVE STREAMING
Louis Vuitton recently became the primary major international luxury company to join the live streaming style. Its Summer months 2020 collection was live streamed in collaboration with a Chinese retail app.
And here in Southeast Asia, Pomelo recently debuted an in-app live stream technology.
Mr David Jou, CEO of Pomelo, noted the variations between the markets in the region.
The biggest adoption has been in Thailand, he said. In Indonesia, engagement amounts have been high, but genuine conversions possess lagged behind. For the Singapore market, Mr Jou says it really is already a sophisticated one, therefore live streaming could be more for content than for commerce.
Industry leaders understand that building on this content can help establish a stronger fan base for their products.
Ms Zhao said: “Live streaming is not only about satisfying your wants. It’s about creating considerably more wants in your life. It is more than simply a simple business transaction. It has evolved, and it is now about getting enthusiasts, personalising the knowledge, and increasing loyalty from buyers.”
Boy band BTS has displayed what a large hit this business design can be.
More than 750,000 admirers from more than 100 countries tuned set for the group’s virtual concert in June. It was a new world record, nonetheless it didn’t last prolonged. In October, BTS broke their individual record, attracting a straight bigger virtual viewers - 993,000 across 191 countries and regions.
Fans had to log in via the group’s own tech platform. It is a business ecosystem that doesn’t simply sell concert tickets, but also builds up long-term engagement with the manufacturer.
And that opens up expansion possibilities for entrepreneurs around many sectors.
For those seeking to join the live streaming bandwagon, authorities agree that engaging the audience is key.
Hormese Tharakan is professional director at tech consultancy ThoughtWorks.
He said live streaming is here to stay, therefore businesses need to begin rendering it part of their business strategy.
“The key difference will likely be, who will get it right. Also to obtain it right, it’s content material which drives data, info drives insight and these insights help you create more personalised experience for the users.
"These personalised experiences are now going to drive your sales. But generating the product sales is not the previous mile. What you will also have to do is set up a complete cycle which leads to setting up trust and loyalty.”
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com