For this edition of 8 Minutes with Activ8, we’re joined by Activ8 Founder Stu Conroy to explore some of the ways brands should expect their content and advertising strategies to change. Stu discusses the adoption of digital tools and the role livestreaming has to play in 2021 and beyond. 

Q. To start off with, what are some of the content trends you have seen throughout 2020 that you are excited to see develop during 2021?

It was a turbulent year so lots of new things came out. I think a lot of companies discovered old tools for the first time, tools they had probably put off until the COVID-19 pandemic, including areas such as video and companies coming into that space with interactive video in particular to ease the process for the consumer. Of course, live shopping, which we are very much involved with, is going to be across social commerce and also websites. There is a lot to learn in this space, but those are the key trends that emerged in territories like China, showing the online world is taking over in many ways. I still think physical retail will now see its days as we come out of lockdown but retail will definitely reinvent itself.

Q. What has the absence of in-store experience meant for brands’ online content? For example, in territories such as the UK that have had extended lockdown periods? 

Brands are taking it seriously: I think there was a big shift in the board room with COVID-19 and operations and online suddenly got taken far more seriously. It was those brands that were able to adapt and be innovative throughout 2020 and early parts of 2021 - reaching out to customers supported by a large online presence - that have ticked on. People still crave the in-store experience, but we have seen the likes of Debenhams and Arcadia Group come to a close over the past year. It’s looking at how you can transform that in-store experience over to the digital world: you haven’t got the touch and feel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do the sales process and engage with the customers. 

Online content probably lends itself better to the retail experience because, for example, in the example of shop floor assistants it’s easy to be overwhelmed by very knowledgeable customers coming in with their Google and other platform learnings. Now, the online experience can be more tailored, including appointment-only bookings and other features to replicate that experience and go beyond this.

It will be interesting to see if some of those high street brands, particularly fast fashion will survive on the high street, but I think every brand has had to up its digital game as it gets more congested. There were approximately 1 million new e-commerce accounts during 2020, so that will mean more competition and big brands will have to be adaptable and still fight those microelements as new sellers come to the market.

Q. What do you think the shift in the prominence of online means for formats such as livestream shopping?

Google knows it is an issue for independent shops to have the time and resources to fully utilise their tools properly, for example optimising Google ad-words. With trying to drive traffic to your website - where you are the team who need to find those key ad-words, run all websites, run PPC campaigns, optimise SEO, etc. - advertising can be difficult.

The thing I love about livestream shopping, is that with this medium you can bypass a lot of that. For small, independent stores, you can advertise to your audience and you can simply go live when it’s quiet in the shop. It’s a brilliant time for this technology, particularly coming out of lockdowns that opens up a whole range of opportunities for brands of all sizes and the chance to speak one-to-one and also one-to-many with their customers. In China, we’ve seen 30% conversions when brands are using live streaming, and those trends are swiftly moving into Western territories. Consumers want convenience: speaking directly to your favourite brands in your own time is not quite the traditional shopping experience, but it may suit some consumers more.

Q. So how can brands get started with livestream shopping?

A year ago, there were one or two apps out there, but over the past couple of months, we have spoken to 20+ companies pursuing the live shopping space. Of course, social media channels have live features too, with TikTok announcing their piece and Facebook and Instagram allowing you to do the live shopping experience. Even QVC announced 2 weeks ago that they are launching on YouTube. It depends on where your customer is and how you want to transact and communicate with them, however, the social media platforms are trying to bring our attention to livestream shopping. Of course, there are standalone apps. There's also technology that can embed live capabilities onto your website. During our early talks with brands, we’ve focusing on finding out what is right for them.

Our goal is to do the end-to-end piece: the idea that someone can put stock in our warehouse system, go live and talk with their audience, we ship the products to the customers and take care of the data or accounting side. The idea is to make it easy to simply take the fun parts of selling a product, which is doing the selling and communicating with the audience.