The trend towards live commerce

Fashion purchasers want to engage in an experience when they buy online. It’s no longer a case of only log-on, click and buy. The visitor wants to interact with the brand.

The main live commerce trends that marketplaces can benefit from in the future include:

Video marketing

Key tool that can personalise the shopper’s experience and capture their imagination. The secret is to direct the video to the viewer. Unlike a standard video, which targets the masses, personalised video marketing appeals to the emotions.

The video should be stimulating, not just an attempt to encourage a direct sale. For example, Burberry’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ video enhances the senses with music, sights and sounds so you almost forget it’s trying to sell you a Burberry raincoat. What it does do is create a memorable video that inspires you to share. Two examples from marketplaces - the Limitless Fashion campaign by Zalando promotes unisex clothing while ASOS has its own YouTube channel.

Virtual/augmented reality

Being able to try on clothes virtually before buying is changing the way consumers shop. Big brands such as Nike, Gap and Ray-Ban all use technology to allow the user to see what they look like in the product. Some also encourage sharing of the final image before the customer buys, which is a clever marketing strategy as the customer is doing the marketing.

What’s the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality?

Virtual reality provides a 3-D shopper experience, for example, the shopper can try on clothes virtually. Augmented reality uses a live experience of the real world, for example, being able to visualise a wedding dress in a church or a sports shoe on the tennis court.