Live commerce becoming essential in e-commerce sector

A model wears an outfit to show how it looks during a live commerce show hosted by Kakao Shopping on Dec. 12. /

By Kim Jae-heun

What once was only considered optional, live commerce has become an imperative medium for e-commerce firms.

Previously, online shopping malls only used images and text to introduce their products. Nowadays, customers wants to see items in videos and ask sellers about them in real time before making a purchase.

Also, with mobile phones becoming so common, customers have begun to shop with them rather than at home watching television.

The advantage of live commerce lies not only in stoking people's interest in the credibility of the items ― as well as their engagement with the show ― but also keeps them on the platform for a longer time.

It also gives customers an opportunity to watch hosts use the items and ask questions, giving them confidence in the products.

In addition, live commerce does not entail broadcast transmission or channel use fees since it uses a mobile platform. High-cost studios are not necessary either, so the entry barriers to live commerce are lower than for home shopping through TV.

Millennials are the main target of live commerce since they grew up with mobile phones and are used to online videos.

For this reason, a number of fashion firms have already introduced live commerce including Shinsegae International and Kolon FnC.

Shinsegae recently launched its S.I.LIVE platform where it plans to sell popular items from 80 high-end fashion brands such as Giorgio Armani, Maison Kitsune and Margiela. It broadcasts every Monday for an hour.

At the same time, Shinsegae is collaborating with local IT giant Naver on its live commerce platform to sell its house brand JAJU pajamas.

Kolon FnC has already witnessed the effect of live commerce after starting its own service in September together with Naver. It achieved double its sales target Nov. 30 when the fashion firm sold its sports apparel.

It also opened live commerce on its independent mobile platform where an accumulated 33,000 viewers went to shop between Oct. 25 and Nov. 15. Kolon FnC said sales from its online shopping mall this year have increased by 25 percent compared to last year.

“A lot of people refrained from going out due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many used mobile phones to shop for clothing. Here, live commerce allowed our customers to check out the outfits in real-time video, which allowed them to see specific details of the products that they couldn't see with just still images,” a Kolon FnC official said.