On January 16th, 2022, three of our Livescale team members went to NRF: Big Show 2022, the biggest show in retail. At the Javits Center in New York City, we presented Livescale to hundreds of retailers, agencies, investors, analysts and journalists. It was also an incredible opportunity to meet other exhibitors, who are changing the face of retail technology.
Here are some trends that stood out at #NRF2022:
- Live shopping and Virtual Reality are the future of retail (not just of retail technology)
This tells us that consumers are ready to dive deeper into experiences which take their in-store experience online. There were many companies creating virtual reality stores and virtual try-on features to give the consumer the same benefits of being in-store, without ever having to leave their homes. At Livescale, you have the unique opportunity to speak directly with experts, influencers, brand ambassadors and even directors during their live shopping shows. Not only are you getting an in-store experience of speaking to someone (like a sales associate) that knows about the product you’re interested in buying, but we also go a step further. Livescale gives you the chance to speak to someone who wouldn’t necessarily be in-store, to give you their expert advice and high-level knowledge about their products.
- Brands are multifaceted
“Brands are like snowflakes. If you look at them in a pile, they look the same, but each one is different” – Lee Peterson, Executive Vice President, Thought Leadership and Marketing (WD Partners), at an NRF panel.
This is something we have learned through all our client interactions as well. Brands are all so different and want to approach Live Shopping in different ways. Some brands have a very high-level production: they use a studio, with professional lighting, a host and a chat moderator. Other brands like a simple livestream, where the host may even be trying the products themselves and having a casual conversation in their living room. Guess what? Using Livescale, BOTH methods see incredible conversion rates (around 17%)! It all depends on what is natural for the ethos of the brand, and what setup makes the customers feel most comfortable.
- Many companies are focusing their efforts on easy payment solutions
The team met multiple companies that were working on optimizing payment at checkout. Most of these startups are working on integrating with different payment systems like Apple Pay and Google Pay, digital wallets, and peer-to-peer payment platforms like Venmo, for in-person and online checkout. An easy checkout experience is very important to us here at Livescale and to our clients! That’s why we have implemented (and patented) the only fully integrated frictionless checkout system in Live Shopping! That means, that the customer is not taken away from the event to make their purchase. We integrate with Shopify, Magento, Salesforce and custom APIs to allow checkout to happen alongside the live stream and cut touchpoints in half – it’s so easy!
- CX and CRM companies are focusing on optimizing customer experiences with inquiries and feedback
Our team connected with innovative companies that were optimizing CRM and CX with different tools. In the Innovation Lab, many of these companies were working on reducing the volume of calls to agents and using features like chatbots to have customer inquiries solved in 60 seconds or less. At Livescale, we know that customer questions are so important to our clients. They love being able to use our chat feature to get direct feedback from customers in real-time! We have a verified chat moderator respond to inquiries in seconds (because it’s live!) This function allows our clients to learn the exact concerns of products they are selling and, in many cases, use this customer feedback as market research.
Our team had a wonderful time at NRF and connected with numerous prospective clients. Check out our social media accounts for more coverage of our time at NRF!
