Everyone who has owned a television has likely flipped past the Home Shopping Network. The televised sales pitch is nothing new. But Amazon has recently evolved to add this shopping angle as another way to engage customers and increase sales. In February, Amazon launched a new service where professional sellers are able to livestream, allowing them to present product, answer questions, and interact with customers. Think of it as QVC for the YouTube and Instagram generation.
What is Amazon Live?
Amazon Live brings interactive video specifically to sell product. Sellers can show how to use their products, chat directly with customers, demonstrate items, and answer questions. Customers get to see items in action, comment, and react to the presenters. Customers can also purchase directly from a carousel that is displayed near the livestream. Amazon claims sellers can: “Reach more shoppers on Amazon.com and build your brand through interactive livestreams.”
Sellers’ livestreams appear on Amazon.com via the desktop site, mobile site, and Amazon's mobile app. They also appear in other prominent places, such as product detail pages, your Store, and on Amazon.com/live. The videos are saved for later viewing, beyond the "live" period, too. Eligible sellers can also pay to promote livestreams, enabling them to reach even more customers.
Who can participate?
At launch, Amazon is focused on creating a curated customer experience with popular and new products from established brands. According to the website, professional sellers in the United States are the only sellers allowed to participate. To qualify for livestream capabilities, you must also be registered with the Brand Registry. Streaming from China or Hong Kong is also not supported at this time, according to the website.
How to livestream
- Download the Amazon Live Creator app on your iOS device. You can use your device’s camera or encode video from a professional camera.
- Log in with the email address tied to your Seller Central account.
- Follow the in-app prompts to select the products you will feature.
- Schedule your livestream for a future time or go live instantly.
Benefits of Amazon Live
Recent livestreams on Amazon Live promote a wide range of products and sellers. There are instructions for crafting the perfect turmeric latte, a “flawless makeup” 6-step tutorial, and a video showing how to use an automatic dog potty, among others. There’s also a daily “Shop the latest deals” direct from Amazon. In this video, presenters show off everything from an Instant Pot and Bose headphones to 500-thread-count sheet sets and a unicorn night light. Interspersed between segments are advertisements for other Amazon products, such as the Echo Spot.
Amazon can put a lot of power and reap a lot of benefits into a service that allows multiple products and platforms to work together. Obviously, Amazon Live allows Amazon to capitalize on its massive third-party seller side of the business, and allows sellers another avenue to promote themselves. Along with that, Live can work in tandem with platforms Amazon already excels at, like Prime Video and Twitch, to showcasing its own-brand hardware, such as Kindles, Echos, and private label items, like sofas and microwaves. Amazon Live benefits Amazon directly, as well. To learn more and sign up, visit the Amazon Live How To page.
