Best Live Commerce Software
Live commerce software helps companies promote and sell products online through live video streaming. Live shopping can be more engaging than traditional e-commerce, subsequently improving interactions between buyers and sellers. Better engagement may lead to increased conversion and improved online sales. This type of software can be used by marketing and sales professionals, influencers, and consumers who provide testimonials or demonstrations about products. Live commerce must be easily accessible to buyers and anyone interested in learning more about the product being presented. This allows sellers to use the software to track consumers that may be interested in buying their products in the future.
Live commerce software should not be confused with live stream software, which usually doesn’t provide features for online shopping. This type of software needs to integrate with e-commerce platforms to exchange product and sales data between the two solutions.
To qualify for inclusion in the Live Commerce category, a product must:
Featured Live Commerce Software At A Glance
G2 takes pride in showing unbiased reviews on user satisfaction in our ratings and reports. We do not allow paid placements in any of our ratings, rankings, or reports. Learn about our scoring methodologies.
Bambuser is a type of video commerce solution designed to help brands enhance their e-commerce strategies through innovative streaming services. This platform focuses on Social Commerce, Shoppable Vid
Give store associates the best information to sell, support and delight shoppers
1,681 Twitter followers
MikMak, a SPINS company, provides real-time commerce intelligence and orchestration software to help brands grow in real-time. Operating in 100+ countries with 8,000+ media and retailer partners world
949 Twitter followers
eStreamly is a revolutionary video commerce platform that empowers businesses to turn your video content into an interactive, shoppable experience. We enable you to engage customers directly by making
144 Twitter followers
Lengow is a leader in intelligent e-commerce solutions that help brands and retailers drive profitable growth across the digital shelf. By combining optimised product data with actionable market i
Channelize.io is an end-to-end Live Video Commerce enabler that enables E-Commerce Brands globally to add Live Shopping Experiences within their Websites and Mobile Apps. Our Platform can be easily in
49 Twitter followers
Salesfloor unifies virtual shopping, clienteling, and AI assisted selling. Salesfloor’s mission is to revolutionize the retail sales and service experience by fusing the human connection with the powe
386 Twitter followers
Boutir is an all-in-one, full-featured commerce platform for businesses to start and scale their online and offline businesses. With our industry leading technology, mobile-first solutions, and mobili
148 Twitter followers
CommentSold is the North American leader of live selling technology, with over 4,000 retailers, more than 150M items sold, and $3.5B+ in lifetime GMV. CommentSold’s technology continues to provide bus
195 Twitter followers
Between (previously known as Supersales) is a virtual shopping platform that helps retailers bring the human connection to their eCommerce experience. Our live video chat drives higher-value online pu
2 Twitter followers
Immerss Live Commerce: Transforming Digital Shopping into Human Experiences Immerss is a leading live commerce platform designed to supercharge eCommerce with interactive, personalized shopping exp
1,535 Twitter followers
StoryStream is the all-in-one User Generated and Social Shopping Experience platform for global brands and retailers. We solve the challenge of engaging modern consumers who seek authentic and person
990 Twitter followers
ABOUT SHOPSHOPS ShopShops is a global shopping app that mimics the fun of in-person shopping through the magic of livestream video. By enabling dynamic host sellers to grow a following based on their
A Category Strategy & Assortment Optimization solution you can trust. Our individualized, tailored-for-you AI platform empowers you to better understand and target your products and retail account
29 Twitter followers
Qiwio helps video loving business grow their brand, attract more leads and sales from their multi channel video marketing campaigns. Qiwio is a business video hosting platform that provides the righ
Learn More About Live Commerce Software
What is Live Commerce Software?
Live commerce software or live shopping solutions is an e-commerce platform enabling real-time interactions between buyers and sellers through live video streaming. This software allows merchants to showcase their products to potential customers in real time, and engage with them through live chat and messaging. It also allows customers to see live demos, ask questions, and place orders directly through the platform during the live stream.
Live commerce software typically includes features such as product catalogs, payment processing, chat and messaging capabilities, and real-time analytics tools to track performance metrics. Some platforms offer built-in marketing and promotional tools to help merchants drive sales and boost engagement. This type of software is increasingly becoming popular in various industries, including fashion, beauty, electronics, and home goods, where customers often want to see products in action before making a purchase. Live commerce platforms aim to bring an in-store experience right to the door of online shopping.
What are the Common Features of Live Commerce Software?
Live commerce software typically includes a range of features that enable real-time interactions between buyers and sellers through live video streaming. Here are some of the most popular features:
Live video streaming: This is a key feature of live commerce software that allows merchants to showcase their new product demonstration to potential customers in real time.
Chat and messaging: Live commerce software, through chat and messaging capabilities, allow customers to interact and ask questions to merchants in real-time during the live stream.
Product catalogs: Live commerce software typically includes a product catalog where merchants can list their products and publish product information such as pricing, product descriptions, and images.
Payment processing: Live commerce software enables customers to purchase products during the live stream through a link to the product on the website. It typically includes payment processing features that enable secure and seamless transactions.
Shoppable video: Live commerce software also helps create shoppable video formats, including in-stream shoppable videos, where the video is embedded within the content. It allows viewers to purchase the product featured in the video.
Analytics and reporting: Analytics and reporting capabilities in live commerce software help measure different performance metrics, such as the number of viewers, engagement rates, and sales conversion rates.
Marketing and promotion: This software offers built-in marketing and promotional tools to help merchants drive sales and boost engagement, such as discount codes and social media sharing features.
Mobile compatibility: Live commerce software is often designed to be a mobile-friendly interface, allowing customers to access live streams and make purchases using their mobile devices.
E-commerce platform integration: Live commerce software can integrate with existing e-commerce platforms, to provide merchants with a seamless and comprehensive solution.
Interactive features: It also includes interactive features such as polls, quizzes, and games to create a fun and memorable live selling and shopping experience.
What are the Benefits of Live Commerce Software?
Live commerce software offers several benefits for both merchants and customers. Here are some of the key benefits of using this software:
Real-time interaction: Live commerce software enables interactions between merchants and customers, allowing customers to ask questions, receive feedback, and get a better understanding of the product, all in real time.
Improved customer experience: Using live commerce software is highly engaging. It provides customers with an interactive and personalized shopping experience, helping increase customer engagement and boost sales.
Improved conversions: It enables merchants to showcase their products in an interactive and engaging way, which drives customers to make a purchase.
Cost effective: This type of software can be more cost effective than traditional marketing methods such as TV commercials or print ads, making it an attractive option for e-commerce businesses of all sizes.
Brand building: It can help merchants build their brands by improving brand awareness and recognition. Brands can also differentiate themselves from their competitors and gain a competitive advantage.
Who Uses Live Commerce Software?
Live commerce software is used by a wide range of businesses and industries using this technology to promote their products and services. Here are some examples of the types of businesses that use this software:
Retailers: Retailers use live commerce software to showcase their products in real time and interact with customers in a more personalized way. This includes fashion, beauty, and home goods retailers.
E-commerce platforms: E-commerce platforms integrate live commerce software into their platforms to provide customers with a more immersive and interactive shopping experience.
Influencers: Live commerce software is used by influencers to monetize their social media following by showcasing products and services to their audience in real time. This includes fashion, beauty, and lifestyle influencers.
Service providers: Service providers such as fitness trainers, cooking instructors, makeup artists, and language teachers use live commerce software to provide real-time services to their clients.
What are the Alternatives to Live Commerce Software?
The following are some alternatives to live commerce software.
Social commerce platforms: Though social commerce platforms can’t replace live commerce software fully, these tools have the potential to conduct live stream shopping, but only on social networking sites. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube can conduct live broadcasts, and influencers can host product demos through Facebook live and Instagram live shopping. They also have shoppable links that redirect to the product website for customers to make a purchase.
Software Related to Live Commerce Software
Related solutions that can be used together with live commerce software include:
E-commerce platforms: Live commerce software can work in conjunction with e-commerce platforms.
Users can utilize e-commerce software to build their e-commerce website or storefront and then use live commerce solutions to integrate with their website. This can help users host live streaming sessions directly from their e-commerce website and post product links in the live chat to redirect customers to the website. This automatically helps increase traffic to the website and improve conversion.
Challenges with Live Commerce Software
Live commerce software has become increasingly popular for businesses. However, it is a relatively new concept in the market. Some of the key challenges associated with live commerce software that companies face include:
Technical issues: Live commerce software helps create live streams, which need a good internet connection and rely heavily on the smooth functioning of other integrated systems. Technical issues, such as software bugs, can disrupt the entire user experience. This can be frustrating for both the business and the customer.
Complex setup: Setting up live commerce software isn’t easy. Businesses may need to invest in additional tech stacks such as video and audio equipment, human resources, and software which can be costly and time-consuming.
Limited audience: Live commerce software is still a relatively new concept in the e-commerce world, and not all customers are familiar with or comfortable with it. This limits the potential audience for businesses using live commerce solutions.
How to Buy Live Commerce Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Live Commerce Software
It’s essential to pick the right live commerce software for a business. Gathering individual requirements and comparing them with the features provided by the vendor makes the task easier. Some live commerce platforms offer advanced features but impose restrictions per different price packages. At the same time, others might be a very basic plan to offer the minimum required feature. For example, small businesses might go for a basic plan, but it would limit a few important features like payment processing, checkout, or reporting and analytics, for which users have to make extra investments. Hence it is essential to understand how new software can fit into an existing tech stack and what problem it would address.
Compare Live Commerce Software Products
Create a long list
A long list helps refine software products with must-have live commerce software features such as live video streaming, chats and messaging, marketing and promotion, reporting and analytics, etc. Some other things to consider while creating a long list could be the product's popularity, the price offered for product add-ons, schemes for upgrading, and 24/7 customer service support.
Create a short list
A short list narrows down the long list of buyers and helps them make a constructive decision on which software to opt for. Short lists are more specific to the exact need of the buyer, mapped with the features offered by the product. For example, buyers looking for live commerce software to only integrate with their e-commerce platform should keep multi-channel software that can sell across mobile apps and social media channels out of the list.
Conduct demos
Demos are an essential part of the entire software implementation process. It ensures that the live commerce software runs smoothly and is compatible with the existing business systems. It allows buyers to ask questions about the software's features and guarantees that the software vendor is entirely transparent about their offerings.
Selection of Live Commerce Software
Choose a selection team
A team of in-house IT personnel, marketing managers, e-commerce experts, and end users must be part of the selection process. Along with senior management, this selection team is responsible for selecting the right software and checking the entire live commerce software onboarding process. Buyers can also outsource technical consultants with domain-specific expertise to give constructive recommendations and suggestions in this process.
Negotiation
To successfully negotiate, the buyer must carefully analyze the final offering provided by two or more live commerce software vendors. There are chances that vendors might offer similar software with similar features. In this case, the only differentiator may be the price provided by the vendor. The deciding factor during final selection in case of similar pricing might depend on product add-ons, unique customization, customer support post-implementation, etc.
Final decision
In most cases, the senior management or head of the marketing department decides to select the software after carefully going through all the documented insights provided by the team during the product testing process. It is also essential to investigate all the vendor's terms and conditions beforehand to avoid any last-minute confusion.
Live Commerce Software Trends
Increased use of mobile devices
Mobile devices have become the primary way people access the internet and engage with businesses. As a result, more companies are adopting mobile-first live commerce strategies, such as live shopping apps (iOS or Android) and mobile-friendly live streaming platforms.
Integration with social media platforms
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have become popular channels for live commerce. Many businesses are integrating live commerce software with social media platforms to reach a wider audience and increase engagement.
Gamification
Gamification is a significant trend in live commerce as businesses seek to make the experience more engaging, enjoyable, and interactive. This can involve incorporating games, quizzes, and challenges into the live commerce experience to keep customers engaged and interested to the end of the live stream.
AI and automation
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are enabling live commerce software to offer more personalized experiences for customers. AI-powered chatbots can help customers navigate the live commerce experience and make intelligent recommendations based on their customer preferences.
