Firework, a short video platform, has entered the live commerce space in India and recently launched a solution to allow businesses and brands to sell their products through shoppable videos and livestreams. The new launch is aimed at letting brands build their e-commerce presence using live video streams on their websites and apps. Firework is making its shoppable video experience live for consumers, with more than 15 brands putting over 30 products on sale. Having entered India in 2019, Firework claims to have more than 100 million unique viewers each month in the country and over 300 million globally.
This development has come in at a time, when according to recent reports, live commerce in India is already on a growing curve and is expected to clock a gross merchandise value of US $ 4-5 billion (roughly Rs. 29,700-37,100 crore) by 2025.
What’s in store?
Instagram has added shopping capabilities throughout its apps, including Instagram Live. Facebook is developing native livestream shopping tools, in fact brands are developing online platforms or updating their own platforms to livestream shopping and other players in this space are helping retailers and brands use livestreams to engage audiences on their digital properties.
With online shopping, possibly shoppable videos are a good way for customers to have a nearly store like experience for themselves. This allows them to shop from where they are, without having to step out for anything. Yet, it is not like clicking and buying, but rather emerging in the experience to gain full access to their shopping basket.
Moreover, India’s leading live video commerce SaaS, Swirl have entered into a pilot project with Unlimited Fashion Store just last month to evaluate its video commerce solutions and improve its effectiveness to drive better engagement and sales. As a part of this pilot, Swirl will become an integral part of Unlimited’s digital strategy, tapping various features to be evaluated. If the pilot features become successful, drive engagement rate, sales, retention, or lead generation, as part of the next phase of the program, the features will be incorporated into the standard offering of Swirl, which is an enterprise-level sophisticated Virtual Shopping SaaS solution. In addition, Swirl will extend its functionality for the partner across all its online and offline channels. With this move, the platform presents itself as a big contender within the domain that the industry can depend on to give their customers a ‘new real’ experience virtually.
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More than 100 fast-growing brands in India such as PN Rao, Zariin, BeChef, Humblebee, AltoVida and others have been using Swirl to deliver live shopping experiences already and this pivots a bigger change. Another interesting platform is Shoploop, a new app from Google’s Area 120 research division, which hosts consumers to new products in under 90 seconds. Basically, in this, a user can watch videos from creators who show off products and then they can either save a product to buy later or click straight on the merchant’s website to complete the purchase.
According to experts, the idea of shoppable videos helps consumers use their screen time with justice. They don’t have to scroll through products on Instagram and then go to watch videos or watch live reviews about the same on YouTube and then go to the company’s e-commerce page to shop for it. They can now understand and watch someone showcase the product to them via a video and then use this video only to shop for it. This certainly saves time and fastens the decision making process and allows the customer to know firsthand about the product.
Brands are using influencers to bring out these videos, so that they are able to give a taste of their products in real-time to the customers, who after getting to understand the nitty gritties of the product from a shopper just like them, can make a better decision about their choices. This certainly boosts customer loyalty, and more than engagement, this helps with retention. The idea of shoppable videos is fast changing the landscape of retail, which has already been accepted and used extravagantly outside India but is still in its nascent stage in India.
