Why Best Buy is investing in livestream shopping

Best Buy is adding a new tool to its holiday strategy this year as it tries to improve its connections with customers. Beginning today, the electronics retailer is rolling out a series of livestreamed shopping events. The three shows, which will run weekly through Nov. 15, will run in collaboration with live shopping platform TalkShopLive. Best Buy sales experts will host the sessions, each of which will focus on different categories: beauty and wellness, e-transportation and outdoor living and, lastly, unlikely Best Buy products—a show called “Yes, Best Buy Sells That.” “The live online streaming really allows for customers to be shopping digitally from wherever they want but they can see products and see them in action and have that one-on-one interaction through the chat feature,” said Jennie Weber, who was promoted to chief marketing officer at the Minneapolis-based retailer earlier this year. “It’s a good moment to learn and test things with our customers and see what resonates with them.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs In addition to the live shopping initiative, the chain is also debuting its holiday marketing campaign this week. The in-house effort, “You Found Perfect,” features three 30-second spots, including one that shows the prevalent trend of shopping while at the office. “The campaign this year is built around this singular idea of helping our customers stand out,” said Weber. The efforts come as Best Buy faces slowing sales. For the quarter ended July 29, the company reported a 7% decline in revenue from the year-earlier period, to $9.6 billion. Second-quarter net income fell to $274 million, down from $306 million a year earlier. Best Buy will report third-quarter results on Nov. 21. Livestream growth Livestreamed shopping is a growing global commerce trend that several U.S. retailers are tapping into in order to meet their customers’ digital shopping needs. Coresight Research expects the livestreamed e-commerce market to reach $32 billion by the end of this year, triple what it was two years ago. Poshmark, the secondhand e-commerce site, began testing some livestreamed shows in 2022 and launched the offering officially in April; the company now hosts over 100,000 shows a month and has a long waitlist of hosts hoping to stream their own shows, according to Steven Tristan Young, chief marketing officer, who spoke about the trend at Ad Age’s Media Summit last month. Macy’s, which also runs its own shows, said it has seen a 50% reduction in returns for products purchased from such events. Indeed, Best Buy’s Weber noted that the chat feature can help customers get questions answered and better understand how items work. “The folks that we have are our experts,” she said. “They have so much passion around technology and it’s going to show up as a really authentic experience for both our associates and our customers.” Best Buy will measure the success of the test by tracking engagement with the chat, how long people tune in and what kinds of products are purchased. All three events will be recorded and watchable after they stream live. To spread awareness of the events, Best Buy is running some paid media ads, Weber said. The new program follows a test of Best Buy’s virtual store, which debuted as a pilot in late 2021 and was expanded last year for the holiday season.

Why Best Buy is investing in livestream shopping

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