YouTube is the benchmark in live commerce, combining entertainment and inspiration with research and shopping
If before people went to stores when they didn’t know what to buy, now live commerce events allow them to have a similar experience without leaving home. In addition to having access to product demos, they can take advantage of exclusive offers, ask questions answered on the spot, and make purchases effortlessly.
Live commerce has become a milestone in the transformation of retail relationships with people over the last 80 years. As people feel more comfortable shopping online, brands have embraced live video, understanding the format as a flexible and democratic strategy. In this context, YouTube is a reference in live commerce, combining entertainment and inspiration with research and shopping.
In the wake of this movement, brands and retailers are establishing their own live commerce initiatives to promote their products in partnership with influencers. This combination of entertainment, utility and authenticity is a powerful tool for brand marketing. And, of course, content creators are at the center of it all.
YouTube’s role
YouTube is the video platform that people would miss the most if it weren’t available anymore. Viewers feel personally connected to creators, and this social aspect builds trust. They know that their favorite creators make recommendations consistently and reliably. Not by chance, in addition to watching videos and acquiring knowledge, people also associate YouTube with the act of buying.
By making it easier for people, brands and creators to connect, YouTube is also developing ways to integrate shopping functionality directly into content. As part of the experience, creators, retailers or brands can, in Lives, select products to appear in an on-screen overlay, allowing viewers to click through to see the products and be directed to purchase without interrupting the viewing experience.
In live commerce, viewers also have their questions answered, feeling empowered and informed. This feeling helps a lot to motivate buyers in the purchase decision.
Engaged crowds: the case of Americanas
In Brazil, Americanas has partnered with YouTube in several commercial projects with creators – and was the first brand in Latin America to experiment with the live shopping feature.
For the second year in a row, Americanas bet on the format to engage crowds and sell more. In 2021, Super Live 11/11 had appearances from 10 influencers who ran the show for more than two hours, entertaining and announcing unmissable offers.
More than 560 thousand people went through the live, registering a peak of 31 thousand people online simultaneously. Campaigns reached 85 million people (versus 67 million compared to 2020).
Another pioneering live commerce initiative in Brazil, the Americanas Black Friday Show has reached its third edition, being carried out by YouTube in partnership with the Play9 content studio.
Americanas SA pioneered the advertising and entertainment fronts in Brazil with its participation in the Black Friday Show since 2019 and the launch of its proprietary live commerce project, Americanas ao Vivo, during the pandemic in 2020. Launched in 2020. June
0, the innovative live commerce platform has already performed more than 310 lives, with thousands of live products being presented to customers and the possibility of immediate purchase through the Americanas app.
We invest and bet on the live commerce model, which mixes sales with entertainment, a major trend in the market
Vitor Monte, Head of Marketing at Americanas
The brand, the sole and exclusive shareholder of the project, had Felipe Neto as presenter of the 2021 edition. In all, the show had 18 influencers, was broadcast on 18 channels and profiles and reached for the third consecutive year more than 260 thousand simultaneous people, surpassing the incredible mark of more than 1.5 million people watching the live every year.
Raquel Santachiara, live commerce manager at Americanas, says that the brand has always sought the most innovative in the market for its consumers. “Since 2019, with the Black Friday Show, we have invested and bet on the live commerce model, which mixes sales with entertainment, and today it is a major trend in the market. In the heat of Black Friday, for example, the brand held the Super Live 11/11 with several influencers, and the results made a difference. Americanas recorded a 140% increase in the number of items sold, compared to the same time last year.”
Felipe Neto and the t-shirt store
In addition to projects with major retailers, creators such as Felipe Neto have used live shopping solutions to promote and sell their products. He took advantage of the format’s new features to launch five new designs for his t-shirt brand, one exclusive to viewers who were watching the live.
Felipe interacted with members via live chat, introducing the new prints and answering questions about shipping, promotions and discounts. He also enjoyed playing Among Us with his fans.
The live stream peaked at 83,000 concurrent viewers and generated more than 110,000 visits to its store’s website. Felipe sold more than 4,300 products and the exclusive print for the event represented more than 60% of orders. The total revenue generated was approximately 280 thousand reais.
Audience connection = results in numbers
89% of viewers say that YouTube creators give recommendations they can trust.5 No wonder, live commerce has established itself as an efficient way to communicate with a wide audience.
With that in mind, YouTube has been developing, every day, ways to integrate the platform even more into the act of buying, testing new features to better meet the needs of users. All to facilitate, more and more, the connection between them and the brands.
