Fashion
2020 was hard on the retail sector. Although it rallied in the final quarter of 2020, H&M saw its full-year profits slip by 23%. Of course, it’s not been all bad news. Some traders, at certain times, saw sales surge. With the Lunar New Year dawning, retail sales in Vietnam were up more than 6% year-on-year. Between the sale of goods and consumer services, retail raked in 479.9 trillion VND ($20.7 billion).
The story from Vietnam is an example of what’s to come. Many expect people to start spending again, soon. However, in lieu of that, retail needs options. What’s more, they need to ways to move with the times. The benefits of ecommerce have been apparent for the best part of a decade. Between 2014 and 2020, Statista data shows that global ecommerce revenue went from $1.3 trillion to $4.2 trillion. Leading the charge is Amazon. Its own accounts showed annual income of more than $280 billion in 2019. With its fortunes riding high, Amazon is giving other companies the ability to succeed in the digital arena.
The Amazon Southeast Asia Online Seller Summit 2021 will highlight a variety of initiatives designed to help retailers. As well as offering the chance to sell through its network, Amazon is giving Singaporean businesses financial support, access to courses, and more than 225 free tools. The aim is to get more companies to go online and use the power of ecommerce to address current and future consumer needs. Wrapped up in this push to make ecommerce more accessible and, in turn, powerful, is live streams. 2020 saw the market for live online shopping take on a new significance. And, in a break from the norm, this retail revolution started with independent operators such as Popshop Live and not major tech companies.
While these platforms are still relatively niche, they come from an established stable of products. Almost everyone knows about streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube Live. However, streams run much deeper. Online Casinos like Betway have leveraged live action gaming from dedicated studios, these games use RFID technology, dealers, and HD webcams. When combined as one, they allow customers to play live casino games via their computer or mobile. Along similar lines is a concept known as “connected play.” Using the Steam Remote Play add-on, people can take part in co-op games and link their streams. This creates shared experiences within a game and, in turn, for viewers. Outside of gaming, the desire for live streams is now present on social media. From TikTok to Instagram, people are streaming at every opportunity.
With a new trend taking hold, the big boys have entered the market. The Amazon Live Online Shopping Channel makes live streaming accessible to all retailers. It’s the same with Facebook Shops. The social media platform is currently recruiting partners to trial its shopping streams. In April 2020, Shopify also dipped its toes in the water. By integrating videos into its platform, Shopify is paving the way for live shopping streams. What these innovations show is that things are gathering pace. When the big boys do something, others follow. As such, it’s a case of when not if live shopping streams will become popular. That leads to the obvious question: what’s next? Where can live streaming technology take retail and where can retail take live streams?
One potential area of innovation is artificial intelligence (AI). Companies are finding ways to add animated elements to live streams. The next step from there is to create digital hosts. If these hosts are powered by advanced AI, they could take control of a live stream and interact with viewers. The bot would, essentially, become a shopping channel host that never sleeps. And, the more advanced the AI gets, the better it will become at selling. Therefore, it’s possible that live streams will actually become animated streams. In other words, the broadcasts and the products will be real, but the host will be computer-generated. However, before this happens, streaming technology needs to establish itself in the industry. Once that happens, the opportunities are almost endless.
