1. Introduction to Live Streaming in Customer Service
Live streaming Singapore, or broadcasting media live, is a one-to-many delivery mechanism for live video and audio. The video content is streamed online as viewers watch. The most prevalent live streaming platform available today is YouTube. Other market participants include Twitch, YouNow, Periscope (owned by Twitter), and Facebook Live. Then, why dismiss the stage of a new business concept? Next, practically anyone can live stream service from their smartphone today. While mobile live streaming blew up on the social network last year, its e-commerce ties are even more evident. ViewSet noted that another number of global e-commerce events will be joined next year by 37% of attendees. But aren’t there already lots of videos of e-commerce? There are, but that’s yesterday’s analytical shape anecdote. Collect what was explained above and one Instagram user sees a 100% visitor growth, double product view time, a fivefold sales conversion rate. Rather than being merely captivated, visitors will click on the product to check out any potential interaction their fans may have had with the product maker. Loretta the mess – it’s not going to end that way.
The advent of technology in business has drastically disrupted the way sales transactions are conducted. As companies try to adapt new processes using technology to meet changing business scenarios, video-on-demand technology today is at the forefront. As the “younger” generation comes to the fore in the business world, the “old” ones have to change. In a cut-throat world where resources are gradually becoming more scarce, businesses around the globe must put a foot forward and adapt to new technologies. This paper discusses what others believe to be the next front in e-commerce – as live streaming comes of age, the potential of watch-and-buy to enthrall the world.
1.1. Definition and Importance of Live Streaming
Live streaming can also stimulate consumers’ interest and attention in the product, encourage consumers to discuss the products, and impart an intuitive understanding and judgment of the business’s attitude and strength to consumers. In other words, before deciding to purchase a product, consumers can experience the goods and services in the real transaction environment by using live streaming. Then, they can examine the quality of the products and services, and compare the similarities and differences of each competitor’s product prices and promotions through live streaming. Schlitt et al. investigated the drivers of consumer engagement in live streaming and found that interactivity, information shared, and trust had significant positive relationships with consumer engagement in live streaming. These findings reveal the correlation between live streaming and customer service engagement.
In a live streaming transaction, service providers can provide real-time product introductions and recommendations, communicate with other consumers, and cater to their demands through the use of comments, gifts, and points systems. Moreover, through interactions with consumers or between consumers, the company can offer accommodations for consumers and provide real-time and interactive services that are close to consumers’ personal needs. By participating in the live streaming process, consumers can help increase the sales value of the business, obtain additional consumer benefits, and enjoy information and knowledge that little or no cost can offer.
In business, live streaming is a tool used for real-time interactive communication between service providers and potential or existing consumers using the internet as a platform. It is not only an important and popular tool in areas such as socializing, personal life, entertainment, real-time data recording, education, news reports, holding meetings, marketing and data feedback, customer service feedback, and service guidance, but also plays an important role in corporate management, product promotion, and customer support.
2. Current Landscape of Customer Service in Singapore
When they do go online in search of great product offerings, we observed that these “sorted by popularity” listings do have a huge role to play in the final checkout. And so, while arithmetic is at the back end to understand what the average shopper would benefit from, we see that the potential returns on taking a step back to understand and segment different types of shoppers, and thus tailoring the entire broadcast to different segments, the impact on customer service and, in the future, the average checkout value, could be tremendous. This paper sums up the different customer service strategies being explored and designed for different segments.
Live streaming in Singapore, 2016 by Blackbox Research and VML Singapore. Survey conducted in March 2016 among 1000 online shoppers in Singapore. It is apparent that most Singaporeans are turning to live streaming platforms in pursuit of genuine retail therapy, looking for novel ideas on how to use a product, and broadcasting genuine customer experiences. Various local entrepreneurs and small business owners are reaping the benefits of the live streaming experience. However, when live streaming platforms primarily focus on serving a particular group of shoppers, such as Taobao sellers addressing Chinese customers through STO ships, or Teambuy addressing Shopee’s customers in Taiwan, there is talk about encouraging Singaporeans to tap into the bigger Southeast Asia (SEA) e-commerce market.
2.1. Challenges and Opportunities
Employing modern, self-service technologies in the physical environment can also provide tingle environmental benefits that improve the customer-service experience. They can reduce the perceived crowding of the servicescape, provide better control over the service delivered and reduce potential employee encounters and thereby improve employee morale and customer perceived quality. Marketing research verifies the relationship between perceived service quality imaging and customer perceived service quality. These technologies can reduce ambiguity about the tasks that need to be performed and increase problem-solving ability. The implementation of these technologies has been difficult, yet the potential expenses of these implementations have magnified the managers who fears that their in-rigor service will be compromised when employee-based service is replaced. This paper provide editors with an opportunity to explore whether this technology use might be dependent to location and if so, to identify what those factors are. Currently being discussed effective effects of technology on the customer-perceived service quality in the servicescape. At this early stage, research shows that depend service perceived value technology, serious issues such as perceived control and ability to perform (agree or task-oriented) and perceived privacy and security still must be resolved before the customer will find such technology useful.
Today’s customers have come to expect efficient and effective customer service, whether it is in an online or an offline environment. In order to achieve the desirable customer service, a number of companies are evaluating new ways to cater the customer’s service request or to solve the problem the customer is experiencing. Different technologies have allowed many customer service to be transplanted from a physical, human rendered environment to a virtual, computer generated setting. More companies are evaluating so-called self-service technologies, which allow customers to perform tasks themselves or receive service without the direct intervention of human service employees. The servicescape builds up corporate image and positioning, influences customer behavior, promotes efficiency and control in service delivery and can improve the customer perceived quality. Guest involvement can have positive effect on service quality outcome and this relationship can be positively influenced by employee attitude and technology, guest involvement can also encourage customer. As a result, they have suggested “creating truly informative and participative experiences may help the customer service providers make up some service shortfalls in the selection, training, and motivation of employees”.
3. Benefits of Implementing Live Streaming in Customer Service
3.2 Reasons for the Growing Popularity of Live Streaming in Customer Service For live streaming to be able to assist in enhancing the traditional functions in customer service, it must be convenient and tailored to the customer’s needs. This, however, had not been addressed when the service started gaining traction since live streaming via traditional media or television only started to become popular in the late 1920s with the emergence of cable television. At that time, customer interaction over the air through voice and video calls was a very big deal. Fast forward to today, this novelty for full-service or white-glove service is due to full or partial digitalization, where the entertainment industry users, also known as the streamers and stream hosts, use desktop, mobile phone, gaming console, or camera hardware coupled with proprietary or third-party software that encodes and transmits live streaming media to or from the streaming service’s global servers. Smaller businesses are also able to leverage the above technology through social media such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook Live.
The ability of live streaming technologies to broadcast businesses online is one of the key reasons it is taking the world of customer service by storm, following other tools such as live chats and chatbots. The live streaming customer service solution offers customers the personal touch with human interaction, which is missing from text-based platforms. Having an authoritative human presence to address questions while at the same time showing the workings of products can help to answer consumers’ or customers’ pressing queries, leading to a positive experience. By having real-time interaction over live streaming, brands can encourage consumers to ask questions. Since an emotional connection between the brand and the consumer can be made, this leads to increased trust, quicker purchasing decisions, influencing heightened spending. What makes live streaming a valuable tool of customer service is its ability to easily and quickly disseminate information and product demonstrations to celebrities, influential brand ambassadors, employees, and of course, the end-users. Several live streaming service providers provide the option of archiving video clips to be watched at a convenient time, which may be especially useful if potential customers in the sector live in different time zones.
3.1. Enhanced Customer Engagement
Live streaming maximizes the emotional connection between presenters and the audience as there are authentic facial expressions, gestures, and body movements. The audience can directly respond to the presenters’ interaction, making the experience more rewarding. The capability to directly interact with the frontliners is an enabler for personalized interactions. The interactions not only build rapport between host and consumer but also between consumers, creating a community around common interests. These connections, as well as strong relationships, affect consumer and market behavior. Social factors such as a stronger sense of social bonds, shared experiences, and the knowledge that others are doing the same might also contribute to the increase in sales conversion rate. Enhanced consumer engagement intensifies support system efficiency by rising consumers’ confidence to question, request advice from, and assist the hosts in resolving their concerns live.
4. Best Practices for Live Streaming in Customer Service
4.2 Best Practices for Live Streaming in a B2C Customer Service Context In a B2C customer service context, companies go live to connect with their customers. Going live can be an effective method for addressing a large group with a similar question or issue in real time. In order to make the most of live streaming, companies seek to: – Select the social platform that is right for them. Many apps currently offer integrated live streaming features. Facebook Live, Periscope, and Snapchat are amongst the most prominent contenders. Frequently, companies are streaming on Facebook. Other platforms are more attractive to niche companies due to their specialization. – Develop engaging, informative content that is relevant and valuable. Providing value in what you release will, in all cases, lead to quicker relationships forming. – Ensure they have the right equipment, expertise, and resources to do it effectively. – Use clear call-to-actions to incite a response from viewers. The best call-to-action will be something that gets your audience to interact with you. These could be product-related questions to drive increased interest or could lead to increased consumer engagement. – Use an application that allows you to easily communicate relevance during the live feed. The majority of viewers commenting below are asking questions or looking for details about the current subject. Throughout the live broadcast, respond to most comments and questions. Accurate details will help build rapport and make consumers feel you’re genuinely listening.
4.1 Introduction As seen from the previous section, many companies have embraced live streaming as a means of marketing communication, broadcasting, and product launch. With smartphones and faster data networks becoming widespread, live streaming has rapidly become the latest marketing tool for business promotion in the digital age. Moreover, it is also a cost-effective way for companies to create deeper engagement with their consumers. Companies are only beginning to explore the use of live streaming in a B2C customer service context. Companies understand that live streaming has the potential to revolutionize customer service. The practical implementation, however, is not easy. In order to capitalize on this potential, companies must understand the nuances of this social media channel. Therefore, understanding and exploring the different potential in using live streaming to provide the customer service level required is necessary.
4.1. Interactive Features and Real-Time Feedback
In addition to featuring an influencer directly responding to various inquiries in real-time, live stream platforms include additional interactive features that enable audience members to instantly communicate, support, and tip the influencers. Although the live platform is quite similar to services from traditional sources and e-commerce, researchers have limited studies related to the customer service aspect. For an ethical, moral, and economic perspective, researchers continue to call for work and practitioners. The aim of the current study was to investigate the interactive features available in live streaming videos of influencers in Singapore, and evaluate the live services in terms of customer service, customer engagement, human brand relationship, and sustainable value source.
This research compares a full spectrum of real-time interactive elements commonly used in marketing and customer service chat applications with that of live video platform functions, to investigate their impact on service delivery, customer engagement, and realization of the triple-bottom line. The study employed a two-phase methodology, consisting of content analysis of live streaming influencers’ responses from 13 videos with different themed contents, followed by semi-structured interviews with 11 live streaming hosts. The results suggest that the more the live streaming platform minimizes the cognitive and physical effort needed in responding to customer requests, the more value it creates for the customers and influencers. The findings also uncover service strategies of live influencers, which include unique selling points (USPs) of the interactive real-time video, detailed problem-solving actions, and the influencers’ unique preference in picking different live platform functions.
5. Case Studies of Successful Live Streaming Initiatives in Singapore
In this chapter, we take a departure from our quantitative analysis identifying dimensions of platform attractiveness before the consumer is exposed to any live stream content to using case studies to illustrate the content of a live stream and the importance of the content in driving the initiation of a live stream and comparisons with other direct marketing channel options available to firms. We use three recent case studies in three different product categories: Singapore food and beverage from an F&B outlet, fashion from a major retailer, and technology hardware from an IT retail chain. These case studies are chosen for our analysis because of their unique contribution, which is the early move to live stream marketing for customer engagement and their commitment to providing high-quality content in their live stream to achieve customer service excellence, which are broadly under examined in the literature on the live stream interactive medium concerning marketing communication.