Livestreaming is going viral
Greetings, Pulse Subscribers!
This week, we’re diving into tools retailers can use to boost their customer experience, including a double-dip into the growing world of livestream shopping. Here’s the agenda:
Livestream shopping’s rapid expansion
Shopping live … with celebrities
Solving sizing – how to find the perfect fit, every time
Listening to everything your customers say
All that, plus two essential reads and the best ad you’ll see today.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Startup Deal
Livestream Shopping | Livestream shopping continues to grow in popularity stateside as customers lean into the social, interactive nature of the technology. In China, livestream shopping is already a $300 billion-a-year business, which means North America’s current $6 billion-a-year livestream market has incredible potential for growth. Firework, a San Mateo-based startup, saw this opportunity when it launched in 2017 and has since grown to streaming almost a million days' worth of content annually across 37 countries. Allowing retailers and consumer brands to offer interactive livestream shopping experiences, Firework empowers businesses to transform their websites and social media channels into social and storytelling hubs so they can build deeper, long-term relationships with customers. With 600 clients including Albertsons, the Fresh Market, and Unilever already embracing the next wave of e-commerce, Firework recently raised $150 million in Series B funding led by SoftBank.
Shopping Together Virtually | Another startup making waves in the livestream shopping market is buywith. While having just completed its seed round, buywith is already a veteran in this emerging field, having teamed with Walmart, H&M, and Estée Lauder, among others. What makes its offering unique is that it does not require an app download or code integration to get up and running, allowing retailers and brands to quickly and easily jump into the world of livestream shopping. In addition, their “Shop With Me” feature transforms livestream shopping from a presentation into a shared shopping experience. “Shop With Me” allows stream hosts to share their screens with customers, giving customers an insider's view of what these influencers, experts, or celebrities are shopping for. Helping increase e-commerce conversion rates through real connection with a session engagement rate increase of around 40% and an average of 10x return on investment, buywith recently raised $9.5 million in seed funding led by igniteXL Ventures.
AI Body Modeling | Everyone knows sizing varies from brand to brand, and it can even change from one item to another within the same brand. While this is annoying for customers, it’s costly for retailers, who have to eat the cost of excess returns. Bold Metrics hopes to solve the sizing problem by using body data from its ever-growing arsenal of 45 million body models to help customers choose clothes that fit every time. Bold Metrics provides apparel brands and retailers with accurate AI Body Modeling technology that matches a customer’s body data with specific garment data so customers can find clothes that fit according to their body measurements, shape, and personal preference in seconds. With sizing solutions for ready-to-wear, on-demand, and custom apparel both in-store and online, Bold Metrics boasts a 20% increase in conversion rates and a 32% reduction in fit-related returns. In addition to boosting sustainability by reducing waste and returns, Bold Metrics allows brands to harness the power of data-backed insights to streamline the manufacturing process and help designers design better clothes. With customers that include Canada Goose, Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, SuitShop, Blue Delta Denim, and UpWest, among others, Bold Metrics recently raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Customer Intelligence Platform | One of the best ways companies can improve their business is to listen to customer feedback. However, with the proliferation of feedback channels, review sites, and social media exchanges – to name just a few – it can seem nearly impossible to keep up with everything customers are saying. Palo Alto-based startup Idiomatic offers an AI-powered solution that finds and analyzes mountains of customer feedback and translates it into easily understandable insights. With its contextual AI customer intelligence platform, Idiomatic categorizes and quantifies all types of customer feedback, including unstructured feedback from emails, chats, reviews, social media channels, and even voice messages, and offers real-time solutions companies can use to optimize the customer experience and power better business decisions. With clients that include Instacart, Facebook, and Upwork, Idiomatic boasts a 250% increase in customer satisfaction and a 49% decrease in complaints. Idiomatic recently closed a $4 million seed round led by Freestyle.
Essential Industry Reads
With the sheer magnitude of entertainment and content consumers are presented with on a daily basis, it becomes harder and harder for brands and retailers to cut through the noise and make an impact with consumers. Sara Karlovitch at Marketing Dive has an interesting brief read about a Chipotle ad that debuted live in Ball Arena during a recent Stanley Cup playoff game between the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues. We won’t spoil the surprise, but here are some hints: augmented reality, giant burrito bowl, ice rink attack, and “don’t forget the fork”. Learn about Chipotle's recent push to integrate virtual and in-person experiences (and see the video) below.
While the pandemic may be over in many people’s eyes, its economic effects could be with us for a while. Over on Bloomberg, Lizette Chapman has a sobering read about a recent meeting Sequoia Capital had with the founders of its portfolio companies where they described the current economic environment as a “crucible moment” in a presentation titled, “Adapting to Endure.” Laying out the case for a long and drawn-out recession, Sequoia Capital isn’t alone in sounding the alarm: Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and Covington & Burling have all recently made cases for the precariousness of our current economic situation. With a possible extended downturn looming, Sequoia Capital offers advice they believe will help carry companies through the potential dark days ahead. Hope for the best, but expect the worst, read about Sequoia Capital's warning below.
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Another great livestream app to look at is WhatNot! Focused mainly on collectibles suck as Sports Cards, Funko Pops, and Video Games, they seem to be cornering and controlling the livestream resale market.