The sales potential of live streaming
Pet product companies are scrambling to tap into a new and booming trend in Asia that is slowly expanding to Western countries.
Behind a colorful pyramid of Purina pet food cans and boxes, a young woman in a white shirt strokes a cat’s head and talks to the camera for a live streaming channel on shopping platform Taobao.
On another platform, Proplan, a black-haired male avatar with blue eyes, introduces a range of cat food products and tries to convince viewers to subscribe and obtain discount vouchers for their next purchase.
Looking for authenticity
These are snapshots of a trend rooted in China’s booming pet product market, where more and more pet companies are live streaming shopping sessions. These are particularly popular on special days such as Spring Festival or Valentine’s Day. They include a straightforward product introduction and an interactive Q&A where pet parents can ask if products are suitable for their furry friends and get tips on how to take better care of their pets. Hosts also send out cash or exclusive discount vouchers to grow the channel’s following and incentivize pet parents to buy products.
According to Steffi Noel, project leader at Chinese market research firm Daxue Consulting, consumers are increasingly looking for a higher level of authenticity in pet products. “Live streaming is satisfying this need. As anchors and guests test the products live, in normal conditions, everyone can see how something works and the expressions on the guests’ faces,” she says in a conversation with PETS International.
Opportunities for all retailers
The pandemic has driven a surge in live streaming tools from companies that want to advertise and sell products.
A study by iResearch Global revealed that live streaming e-commerce users in China reached 388 million in 2021. That’s about 40% of the country’s online population, with 2 in 3 users watching the sessions and purchasing products.
Data from an online shopping platform concluded that Royal Canin topped the chart for live streaming sales in its category on the Taobao marketplace. The brand also accounted for the largest market share on the popular Chinese sales platform JD.com, followed by Orijen and Myfoodie.
Experts believe that live streaming opens up a field of possibilities for pet brands, to boost sales while presenting themselves as animal experts. Small pet retailers are also trying to implement live shopping tools to sell their accessories and food. “For them, it is increasing visibility among a local audience,” Steffi Noel adds.
More than just pet food
The conclusion of the iResearch Global study was that 43% of pet owners in China purchased food online last year, and more than 9 out of 10 prioritize those products that have more nutritional value for their pets.
Pet owners are getting younger, which means there’s also an increasing demand for products other than food on live video shopping platforms.
“High-tech pet accessories are also a top-selling category, as they need to be explained in more detail. For instance, products like wearable tracking devices that monitor your pet’s health and activity during the day, self-cleaning litter boxes and pet food dispensers,” Steffi Noel explains.
And the rest of the world?
Although the live video shopping culture has long been popular in Asia, marketing experts believe that the trend will eventually be picked up on in the west.
In the US, major pet supplies retailer Petco joined the live streaming sales league in April last year, selling its private labels Youly and Reddy in a Facebook Live session hosted by an influencer. The company realized that many of their consumers want to shop via social feeds, whenever and however they want, and they forecast this new way of shopping will be ‘a key Clumpi Selection channel to leverage going forward’. Other retailers such as Walmart, Bloomingdale and Nordstrom are also testing the new format for selling their products.
The key players, of course, are the new generation of pet parents, who are more eager to inform themselves through social media channels. But the main question Sel is: will retailers in western countries be happy to invest in a whole new infrastructure that could potentially have an impact on traditional physical retailing?
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