What you need to know before starting your live commerce business
If you want to target millennials and Gen Z, you need to learn how they shop nowadays. Forget about plain e-commerce. Welcome to the world of Live Video Commerce

What is live video commerce anyway?
QVC meets Twitch, that would be the best way to explain live video commerce. Streamers promote items for sale during their streaming sessions. Through chat, audiences can freely communicate with the streamer and have the virtual experience of shopping at the store. Audiences can ask questions regarding the item. For example, audiences can request the host to show the item in different colors or for the host to try it on. This real-time interaction increases audiences’ interest and leads to a higher conversion rate. Without leaving the app, viewers can proceed to checkout while continuing to watch the live stream.

Live commerce has been extremely popular in China. Major e-commerce businesses already adopted live streaming features. Taobao Live, operated by Alibaba, has set a new record for its live-streaming commerce growth (400% growth in 2018). And brands are catching on the trend by live streaming their fashion show runways, so audiences can order items immediately as they watch the show.

VCs are noticing the trend
When there are transactions, there are investments. Back in 2015, Bolo.me had the foresight to merge live streaming and e-commerce. The Chinese company successfully raised $30 million from Baidu and expanded to Japan and South Korea. Slowly, startups from other countries are catching up on the trend. Grip, from South Korea, secured $3 million of funding, shortly after its launch on February 2019. Two Indian startups recently joined the party. Mall 91 was successful to raise $7.5 million led by Go Ventures, while Sequoia India Surge graduate BulBul is raising $14.7 million round. Although live streaming is mainly popular in Asia, Dote, which raised $12 million, is spreading the social shopping experience to teenagers in the US.
What makes Live video commerce so different?
Simply, live video commerce is a mixture of everything the young generation likes. Millennials and Gen Z are more keen to watch a video than read a related article. They are the most familiar generation with mobile devices and social media. Live video commerce combines influencers, (or KOLs — Key Opinion Leader), and e-commerce to maximize user engagement and conversion rates.
Another big factor that sets it apart with the traditional shopping channel is the ability to communicate with the host. Hosts can even invite someone from the audience to join their live streaming session to hear an honest review. This builds credibility and a high level of intimacy with the host, which leads to a high conversion rate.
How RemoteMonster makes ultra-low latency streaming simple and easy
In order to achieve such a strong and smooth connection between the host and audiences, ultra-low latency streaming is the key. With other HLS or RTMP solutions, there can be 5–6 seconds of latency (delay). This will interrupt interactions between audiences and the host. RemoteMonster provides real-time streaming with sub-second latency. This allows hosts to have smoother communication with potential customers and increases revenue.
Building a live streaming feature from scratch requires a team of skilled media engineers and months of development time. Besides, constant monitoring is needed in order to operate a streaming business 24/7 successfully. With RemoteMonster, any businesses can start with a $200/month plan to have their own live streaming server and a designated customer success team. To learn more, visit our website and check out our sample site for core features.
Are you ready to jump into the live video commerce industry?
Contact us at support@remotemonster.com :)

