This article was written by Nicolas Monier and published on L’Officiel des Réseaux commerciaux magazine on 14/04/2022
In the heart of the very chic 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the Avenue de la Grande Armée, the Globe group has set up over 1,500 m2 of space and 35 showrooms dedicated to this new mode of consumption. We went to visit this technological lair. Follow the guide with Jeremy Dahan, the founder of the place.
Still too little known in France, live shopping nevertheless remains a strong growth lever. In China, where it was born, it has according to McKinsey recorded a growth in value of over 280% between 2017 and 2020. Very recently, the Carrefour group joined forces with the mnedia company Brut to create a platform entirely dedicated to this modern teleshopping. The tone is set. Another player, located a stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe, is also trying to conquer as much market share as possible. In the heart of the 1,500 m2, Jeremy Dahan, the owner of the place, welcomes us and gives us some initial advice for brands wishing to launch themselves into live shopping.
The first rule is crucial. « The brand must know precisely the audience of its sites. If no one comes to my shop, no matter how nice it is, I won’t make any sales. That’s why we have the capacity, upstream, to develop the audience of our clients’ sites. The logical continuation of e-commerce is live shopping », explains Jeremy Dahan. For retailers, several formats are possible in terms of live shopping. The « one to many », in event mode, which addresses 1,000, 10,000 or even 100,000 people. And finally, « one to one », where the brand allows Internet users to seek advice from a salesperson directly, depending on their expectations. This system makes it possible to address, on average, between 80 and 100 consumers per day.
WHAT SPACE FOR WHAT NEED
Then comes the choice of space for the brand. During our visit, we saw a Moulinex showroom (about 20 m²) being set up for a future event. « Depending on the need for space, if it’s a single product presentation, we adapt the different sizes of showrooms, which are like mini digital shops. We customize the color of the brand according to the duration of the event, » explains the founder of the Globe group. The proposed space acts as a relay to the physical shop. It is interesting to note that the most engaging time slot for sales remains the 5pm-11pm period. The best audience rate within the platform.
« As the shops usually close at 7pm, we kind of take over, » says the founder.
For the moment, it is clear that luxury (beauty, cosmetics), high-tech and life style are the sectors that are positioning themselves in the niche. Among the group’s clients are Adidas, L’Oréal, Google and Dior. During the visit, we wanted to know who the live shopping was aimed at. « To any retailer who needs to have salespeople. You will admit that this is less the case for a yoghurt. We address the brands that need advice and salespeople. This is a must. Teleshopping is a demonstration by example. But in the same way as the Foire de Paris. A logic transposed to the Web. We want to bring to e-commerce this emotional dimension that was missing from the Web. But we don’t oppose physical commerce and live shopping. Everything is complementary », continues the director.
HIGH CONVERSION RATES
As for the frequency of use of live shopping, there are no rules yet. For the founder, at the beginning of a partnership, a live event can take place every fortnight:
« Above that, it’s a lot, below that you lose customer loyalty, » notes Jeremy Dahan.
And he adds: « In some cases, for full-time appointments over 16-hour periods, the salespeople work in pairs in double shifts so that they can take turns. In terms of investment, for a retailer wishing to launch a live shopping event, it can start at 10,000 euros for a simple event. Then it can go up to 150,000 euros per month. « I am very confident that we will exceed a million euro budget in 2022. We are currently in discussions with a client who wants to have 40 cabinets with our salespeople and technology. But beware, the profitability will follow! Because the conversion rates are such that we know it will work. It’s like Google search. If you spend one euro on acquisition and you make a margin of 10, you will multiply. It’s elementary« , Jeremy Dahan continues.
And the owner of the site concludes: « With live shopping, the conversion rate is so much higher than on a classic, relatively cold website. It’s not a chatbot, however intelligent it may be. But it has to be seamless otherwise the consumer won’t come back. »
