China sets a standard in creating friction-free live shopping experiences

In the wake of the pandemic and heading into a recession, online retailers struggle to grow. Rocky af Ekenstam Brennicke has worked with brand building and fashion marketing for over two decades. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on how content driven commerce helps brands grow, how to get older generations to shop online as well as why live shopping has become so popular in China.

The popularity of online shopping absolutely exploded during the pandemic, when people were stuck at home. Rocky af Ekenstam Brennicke is a fashion and marketing executive, whose previous roles include director of Brand and Creative at & Other Stories (H&M Group), Global Marketing Manager at Fj?llr?ven as well as Marketing Director at Bj?rn Borg. According to her, it has proven very difficult for online retailers to keep the same growth as during the period of Corona-related restrictions. She also highlights the geopolitical challenges facing Europe and its effect on online retailers:

– We have an ongoing war in Europe, and we also have a recession. This unfortunately makes matters very difficult for the online retail industry, especially the apparel industry.

Online retailers need to face these challenges by stepping up their game in regards to content commerce. According to Rocky, brands need to build trust as well as relationships through content driven commerce to retain and acquire new customers. The key is customization, where audiences feel a personal connection to the brand.

– I think that content driven commerce will be super significant. If we look at future shopping behaviors, we see that customers want to shop at the moment of inspiration when interacting with content. It's also really important to have a one-on-one conversation with the customer, so we shouldn't forget about the importance of customer service.??

Bridging the generation gap: getting boomers to shop online

Rocky also highlights the importance of customer service and content commerce in regards to getting the older generations to participate in online shopping.?

– The X and Boomer generations are not born into social media. If these customers don’t use social media on a daily basis, it’s a larger gap to bridge as a brand.

Online retailers meet this challenge by creating an easy and intuitive shopping experience. Further, Rocky points out how content commerce is a great way to bridge the gap, because of its intuitive and inspirational qualities.?

– I also strongly believe in conversation commerce. You need to have a person to contact and support when shopping online.

China sets a standard in creating friction-free live shopping experiences

One way to create instant gratification as well as personal interaction is through live shopping. Statistics show that today, live shopping is most prevalent in East Asia, especially in China. According to Rocky, this is due to the growing middle class in China today, especially among younger people.

– Often, they are hard-working and very educated. In China, companies expect you to work from nine AM to nine PM six days a week. So when they have their day off they shop for fulfillment, and are of course then super picky about the experience, and that it’s friction-free. I think we really can learn from that. It sounds easy, but it takes work to create a customer journey that is friction-free, and don’t forget about the delivery.?

Further, Rocky believes that live shopping has become popular because it is an upgraded and more fashionable way of doing a modernized version of the classic tv-shop format. For media houses in the future, she recommends creating content that feels well curated and not commercial.

– If the content feels too commercial it loses credibility. For example, customers read fashion magazines because they think it's well curated and like the style.

Credibility and curation is a natural part of live shopping, as human interaction is a central element to the experience. By inviting a host or hostess which the audience trusts, you build credibility for your brand as well as highlighting the curated component.

Stackend is a Swedish SaaS Service that enables Shopify store owners to offer their customers an immersive social shopping experience with live shopping connected to YouTube, vast community features, and smart tools to work with influencers. Once connected to your store Stackend also lets you create virtual pop-up stores with your products and have them appear in blogs, articles, or even ad systems – with full shopping and checkout functionality for their visitors.