SHOPPERTAINMENT TAKES THE STAGE: EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF E-COMMERCE

November 29, 2023 Guest User

In the dynamic landscape of social media, where trends bloom like wildfire and attention spans are shorter than a viral video, there's a new sensation that's not just dancing to the beat but creating the rhythm itself. Move over, Facebook! Step aside, Messenger! And hold on to your hashtags, Instagram! TikTok has waltzed into the scene!

Imagine a world where the "For You" page is the new town square and 60-second clips are the currency of communication. TikTok, with its infectious tunes and quirky trends, has emerged as the go-to platform to share moments and curate experiences. After a few developments, TikTok then gave the spotlight to a new star—Shoppertainment.

Steering towards a future of innovation

Shoppertainment is a portmanteau of shopping and entertainment. Assoc. Creative Director Kat Torrefranca introduced it as content-driven commerce that seeks to create highly immersive shopping experiences through entertainment and education during her teach-back session titled “Shoppertainment: Navigating the Future of Commerce” held on November 10.

Mega sales and live streams with good “budol” deals are left and right, convincing you to buy. Just tap the yellow basket, and you’ve already bagged the item you’ve been dying to have. Shoppertainment is all about infusing shopping with excitement and enlightenment—“shopping on steroids,” you might say.

Indeed, shopping experiences have changed during the pandemic. Experiential engagement became the trend, and brands started leveraging gamification elements in their live streams. These include discount countdowns, trivia, and other playful strategies. More importantly, consumers are now tech-empowered. They hold the steering wheel, which gives them more choice and greater control than before and triggers a shift away from transactional to experiential connections with brands.

Chief Creative Officer Amrei Dizon mentioned that, as a digital production company, VCS' commitment lies in staying on top of trends and delving deep into customer behavior. This empowers us to finely tailor our solutions and ensure they align with the evolving needs of our valued clients.

Understanding the new customer journey

A big question for brands and marketers: How do we shift from transactional needs to emotional needs? This is where demand spaces enter. Kat described demand spaces as the different needs and desires that customers have when making purchasing decisions. Demand spaces, which offer marketers and advertisers deeper insights on consumer needs, can be divided into two core groups: functional and emotional demand spaces.

The functional demand spaces are where consumers transact out of habit. They tend to avail products and services without considering new options. These demand spaces consist of three factors:

Convenience (Easy for Me) - The space where consumers look to make life easier through their routine purchases.
Improvement (Better for Me) - The space where consumers search for upgrade opportunities and options that are close to a routine purchase. Discovering a superior detergent with a slightly higher price is an example.
Validation (Confirm for Me) - The space where consumers confirm they’re making the right choice. This is especially relevant for products that have a higher level of involvement.

In the emotional demand spaces, consumers are actively considering new products when making brand switch choices. These spaces are where changes actually happened and were considered moments of truth. The emotional demand spaces consist of the following:

Recommendation (Advise Me) - This space is where consumers inform purchasing decisions through a trusted recommendation, often in an area where there’s uncertainty about a purchasing decision. An example is buying a skincare product where consumers are looking to follow new trends. Being unfamiliar with skincare products, they then go to sources such as TikTok or YouTube, and they let these platforms advise them.
Indulgence (Spoil Me) - The space where consumers enjoy an opportunity to indulge themselves with a purchase. A consumer comes across a new shade from their favorite lipstick brand and buys it. Since they love that brand, they would still purchase the new release, even though they already own different shades.
Inspiration (Inspire Me) - The space where consumers are inspired to try an exciting new experience, where they can discover completely new products or brands. For example, there’s a new fashion trend, and a consumer is inspired because they think they might pull it off. This convinces the consumer to purchase new dresses and accessories to join the trend.

Consumers travel between these demand spaces from time to time. Kat said that marketers and advertisers should leverage each space with the right solution or strategy at the right time.

A collective learning experience for Team VCS

The talk extended beyond insightful presentations. During the Q&A segment, the team actively shared their sentiments to enrich the discourse. Senior Graphic Designer Jay Quilanita raised a question about the potential negativity of high screen time and whether regions with lower screen time are less immersed in Shoppertainment.

In response, Kat clarified that high screen time isn’t necessarily negative; rather, it reflects our adeptness in adapting to technological changes. She noted that while the West initiated the technological revolution, Asians wholeheartedly embraced it. Moreover, Kat highlighted that Western regions may not be as deeply immersed in Shoppertainment due to the availability of alternative shopping tools.

Inquiring about the broader implications of Shoppertainment, Creative Director Jan Agulto sought clarification on whether it merely fosters consumerism. Kat responded by saying that individuals are no longer impulsive buyers because they want to be part of the brand’s community first.

More than that, Shoppertainment disrupts monopolies as it offers diverse shopping experiences. Consumers are exposed to more choices—not only those offered by major brands with big advertising budgets. However, Amrei cautioned that consumerism surfaces when brands lack values and ethical standards in their marketing. In essence, she underscored the critical role of accountability in ensuring that Shoppertainment remains a force for positive engagement rather than fostering mindless consumerism.

The future of e-commerce and Shoppertainment

Shoppertainment is definitely here to stay. It may be a double-edged sword, but brands, advertisers, and marketers can maximize its value if they use it in a responsible way. Shoppertainment indeed creates storytelling opportunities and memorable shopping experiences, enhances customer engagement, establishes social media appeal, and can be a distinctive factor that attracts customers and builds brand identity.

While Shoppertainment can offer these benefits, its success depends on the effective integration of entertainment into the overall shopping experience and alignment with the target audience's preferences.

This teach-back session has significantly improved Team VCS' proficiency in staying abreast of current trends, empowering us to craft tailor-fit solutions aligned with our clients' evolving needs and demands. The session also heightened our awareness of the influence of emerging online tools and applications, particularly Shoppertainment, on our services and actions. We aspire for these tools to be leveraged primarily for development and the greater good.