In the spirit of living and learning, Walmart said Monday (Nov. 22) it is taking the knowledge gained from 15 livestreamed shopping events it hosted on TikTok and YouTube over the past year and doubling its commitment to social commerce by expanding it to Twitter.
“We believe the future of retail lies in social commerce,” Walmart U.S. Chief Marketing Officer William White said in a blog post announcing the company’s plans to stream more than 30 shoppable events this holiday season over eight different platforms.
Similar to TV infomercials of the 1980s and ’90s, Walmart’s new 30-minute, celebrity-hosted livestreamed shows will feature a range of products, including electronics, home goods, apparel and seasonal goods, as well as special guests and other surprises.
After the debut of Walmart’s first-ever event on TikTok last December, White said the fun and engaging approach has exceeded the company’s expectations.
“The success of these livestream events and growth of our business are telling us that we’re headed down the right path,” White said in the post, adding that the omnichannel giant would continue to curate special experiences that appeal to young customers who respond to dynamic, immersive environments that allow them to shop seamlessly while also being entertained.
Social’s Rising Clout
For a company that is often derided for its impersonal supercenters and lack of fashion sense, Walmart has surprised many, and maybe even itself, by being both an early adopter and aggressive advocate of social commerce, to the point now where it says it’s “leading the way in social commerce by creating first-to-market experiences” for customers.
Even so, it is hardly alone in its embrace of this new, fast-growing retail channel that is uniquely qualified at connecting with hard-to-reach, digitally native, young consumers.
PYMNTS research showed the genre has already grown to more $27 billion in sales, with U.S. social commerce revenues last year accounting for an estimated 4% share of domestic sales, with further gains expected for the foreseeable future.
“Twitter is a platform where we consistently see high return across top- and middle-of-funnel content, so it’s a natural next step for us to explore this new functionality,” White said in the post of the plan to double this digital niche that didn’t even exist a year ago.
A Boost for Social
While offering great potential for retailers, the next-gen digital marketing trend has also been beneficial to social media sites themselves at a time when they have been facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer advocates over their alleged influences on adolescent users.
“We are honored to have Walmart onboard as the first-ever brand to host a Live Shopping event on Twitter,” Twitter Chief Customer Officer Sarah Personette said an emailed statement on the upcoming Cyber Week streaming schedule. “This is just the first of many Live Shopping events we hope brands will be able to bring to market, and we can’t wait for people to watch, chat and shop.”
It’s a mindset and expectation that is fast becoming a universal truth in both retail and social media circles as the intimacy created in this new selling experience is rivaling and even eclipsing that which was seen in the heyday of television.
“Mobile engagement goes much deeper than simply shopping,” said Newegg Chief Technology Officer Montaque Hou in a company announcement last month concerning its own social commerce expansion plans. “Customers want to hear expert opinions about how products will fit into their lives and engage with those experts within the flow of the livestream.”
Read more: Newegg Rolls out Mobile Livestream Shopping Platform
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