The holiday shopping season is upon us, and retailers are beginning to think of deals to entice their customers (are you ready for those post-Thanksgiving shoppers?). For social media platforms, that means shopping experiences designed to keep users spending those dollars in-app.
For Facebook and Instagram, that looks like daily Live Shopping experiences, as well as the return of last year’s successful #BuyBlack Friday.
On Facebook, brands like Macy’s, Walmart, Ulta Beauty, and more will be hosting live shows that offer exclusive deals to those watching. In addition, these Live Shows, as part of the #BuyBlack Friday initiative, will highlight Black-owned small businesses offering deals and gifts to those users who make purchases on either Facebook Shops or Instagram Shops. The program gives small businesses access to free resources and training, with the aim of supporting them in a successful holiday shopping season.
For retailers hoping to sell, this news might not sound like much—you’re looking to earn, not spend. But it can be viewed as an opportunity to learn about ways to reach customers and get insight into what kind of deals (a discount versus a free gift, for example) entice people to spend. It’s also a great way to support independent businesses if one was looking to do a little personal shopping.
And on the note of creating your own content for the holiday season, Instagram announced that you can now schedule and promote your livestreams up to 90 days in advance, giving users plenty of time to prepare—and your followers lots of advance notice, so they can show up when it happens.
Consider planning a live shopping experience for your followers both local and afar, and trading deals that will help them score memorable holiday gifts.
A very important note about scheduling: It’s a good idea to remind your customers to expect plenty of delays in shipping this year, so if they’re not local, it would be wise for them to make their purchases early (and in the same vein, it makes sense for retailers to be marketing their products now). To reduce your mail sack, think about offering local shoppers incentives to pick their items up in person (you can even offer curbside pickup) if they can.
Nervous about your first Instagram Live shopping event? The platform also announced it will be adding a Live practice option, giving users the option to test their events offline—but that’s said to be set for the coming months, so it’s not certain it will be available in time for this holiday shopping season.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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