Orchard Mile CEO Jak Benardete says live shopping is still not very popular in the United States.

“It’s coming here to the United States. But first we have to start changing buyer mindsets,” he says.

Jak Benardete, CEO, Orchard Mile

To differentiate itself from other retailers, Benardete says it made sense for the online marketplace to build its own live streaming capabilities and host it on its website.

Orchard Mile sells more than 55,000 SKUs from more than 250 brands, Benardete says.

“We thought we already had the hardest part of the equation — the product to sell,” he says. “The next step was to create a live stream player on top of that.”

This involved building a community of social media influencers who could choose the products they like and which Orchard Mile sells, he says.

“They sell what they like to buyers while remaining authentic,” says Benardete.

Live streaming is making its way to the US

According to consulting group McKinsey & Company, China is currently leading with live streaming of business events. 57% of live commerce users in the country have been using the shopping format for more than three years, according to McKinsey’s Global Live Commerce Study from August 2022 to September 2022. Only 5% to 7% of consumers in Europe, Latin America and the United States have been using the shopping format for more than three years.

But the popularity is changing, as 78% of live commerce users surveyed in the United States used the shopping format for the first time in the last year, according to the survey.

Orchard Mile’s use of influencers taps into consumers’ desire for an authentic experience, Benardete says. Live viewers want transparency from their hosts, according to a Coresight Research survey conducted on April 11, 2023 with 500 respondents, December 20, 2022 (954 respondents) and September 20, 2022 (1,187 respondents). More than half (53%) of all live viewers surveyed in Q2 2023 expect to see “expert” reviews.

Influencers guide shoppers through live shopping events

Orchard Mile built its live streaming player with live streaming product provider Agora in the spring of 2022. Agora charges Orchard Mile per minute, which Benardete says is doable because the cost per minute goes down the more minutes you buy. to spread. Agora gave Orchard Mile 10,000 minutes a month to start, he says.

The prices also change depending on the quality of the live stream. It costs more for high definition 4K resolution, for example.

Since launching its live streaming capabilities, Orchard Mile has amassed over 60 videos.

“Live streaming is a different kind of hustle [for influencers]“says Benardete. “It’s not that they take pictures or make a video and get paid a $1,000 flat fee. Instead, he throws a [livestream video] and then there may be residual sales [from video replays] for the months to come.

Benardete says some influencers have had to “figure out” the different pay scales, but once they do, “it starts to move really fast,” he says.

“We add new brands every day, and we ask our influencers what brands they like and we reach out to those brands,” says Benardete. “I build partnerships. We want to become a go-to place for influencers to find products they love to sell. »

Test what sells

In general, the cheapest items tend to sell out during live stream events, with the average order value at a live buy event being $200, Benardete says. Orchard Mile’s typical AOV is around $350 to $400, he says.

Benardete says live shopping event shoppers tend to be younger than the overall clientele. As such, the market gears up merchandise to appeal to younger audiences. Live Shopping Events live shopping carts consist of lower cost items, like $20 hair ties.

“We knew it would be easier to sell impulse products like this,” he says. “It’s easier to see someone wearing it, it’s not too expensive, and they can pay with their Apple Pay on their phone. It’s very easy.”

And consumers want a bargain, according to the Coresight survey. 45% of shoppers surveyed in April watched live shopping events, up from 38% in Q1 2023 and 48% in Q4 2022.

The conversion rate for live-streamed events is slightly higher than the website, he adds, without revealing more. But conversions vary between 1% and 3% depending on the type of article. Lower priced items have a higher conversion rate, he says. Digital Commerce 360 ​​estimates OrchardMile.com’s conversion rate at 1.5%, according to Top500Guide.com.

Plus, longer videos drive more sales, says Benardete. Besides Jacqueline Miranne, Orchard Mile plans to have four other influencers hosting longer videos. Eventually, Benardete says he wants to feature a daily live sales video from an influencer.

The process is still new, but brands Orchard Mile sells in its marketplace have reached out to Benardete to be featured in future live shopping videos, he says.

“Brands say they have new products and ask if we can ask one of our influencers to consider featuring it,” he says.

Retailers can strategize sales during livestream events

Live streams are usually three to five minutes long. During the video, the influencer shows off a product he likes, he says.

“It’s almost like a product review, but you can shop it right in the video,” says Benardete. He said sales were starting to roll in for those videos, but didn’t say how many.

The approach to live shopping depends on what is for sale. Promoting products at a live shopping event is very different if you’re selling a luxury handbag versus cleaning products, says Joe Kwong, business development manager at Agora.

When streaming from their own website, retailers can control the experience by adjusting discounts or selling other products during the event, Kwong says. Retailers can see in real time which products are selling and can adjust what is featured during the event to ensure that if a product is sold out they can switch to other options.

“In the luxury categories, you might not want to post transactions happening in real time,” Kwong says. “Compare that to a skyrocketing sale of a hair dryer – [retailers] want to show that you have 1,000 left. If the product is [perceived] as acceptable and people actually buy it, it triggers more purchases.

The type of production is also changing. User-generated content, as opposed to highly polished, highly produced videos, appeals to consumers who are looking for authenticity, Kwong says.

Orchard Mile is #100 in the Digital Commerce 360 ​​ranking of global online marketplaces.

Are you listed in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you rank in our next ranking update.

Register

Stay up to date with the latest developments in the e-commerce industry. Sign up for a free subscription to Digital Commerce 360 ​​Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 ​​posts news content.

Favorite