LIVE STREAMING ON E-COMMERCE MINI PROGRAM

TitleLIVE STREAMING ON E-COMMERCE MINI PROGRAM
BrandSEPHORA
Product / ServiceSEPHORA
CategoryA08. mCommerce
EntrantMOBILENOW Shanghai, CHINA
Idea Creation MOBILENOW Shanghai, CHINA
Idea Creation 2 SEPHORA CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
Production MOBILENOW Shanghai, CHINA
Production 2 SEPHORA CHINA Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Archer Li Sephora China Senior Director, Digital & E-Business
Veronica Qian Sephora China E-commerce Director, Owned .Com
Akira Tang Sephora China Senior UED Manager
Lydia Lu Sephora China Assistant Social E-Commerce Operation Manager
Fann Yang Sephora China Assistant Manager E-Platform Operation
Susan Zheng Sephora China UI Designer
Wanda Wong Sephora China IT Director, China, Information System & Technology (IS&T)
Ricky Huang Sephora China CTO, E-Commerce, Information System & Technology (IS&T)
Michael Qiu Sephora China E-Commerce Architect, Information System & Technology (IS&T)
Andrew Liu Sephora China Associate Director, Digital Product
Miya Ma Sephora China Product Manager
Aaron Yang Sephora China Product Manager
Gabriel Ji Mobile Now Group Sr. Project Manager
Fung Feng Mobile Now Group Sr. UX Designer
Molly Hu Mobile Now Group Sr. UI Designer
Kevin Zhang Mobile Now Group Sr. Front End Developer
Bree Yuan Mobile Now Group Front End Developer
Xueqing Tang Mobile Now Group Front End Developer
Bill Xue Mobile Now Group Sr. Quality Analyst
Bella Huang Mobile Now Group Quality Analyst
Laura Lan Mobile Now Group Projects Director
YJ Cai Mobile Now Group Technical Director
Jeremie Gougenheim Mobile Now Group Business Development Partner
Jason Shen Mobile Now Group Creative Director

Background

Native apps have lost market share in China in the past few years, as increasingly users have preferred to engage with brands on WeChat and more recently specifically on Mini Programs (MPs). MPs are the app like experience offered by WeChat that has removed the need to go to an app store to download an app. Sephora has prided itself on being on the cusp of technology in China and as a result launched it's own MP in 2018, to sit along side it's existing mobile interfaces; native app and .com site. The objectives for this new channel in 2020 were to: 1. Improve MP channel share 2. In line with #1, grow MP contribution to total sales in 2020 vs 2019

Describe the creative idea

The creative strategy, as well as the platform evolution direction, was driven by the need to provide users with sought after content. This was to help meet their need for new content, as users found themselves with more time on their mobile devices, as a direct result of the CV-19 outbreak. The creation and implementation of a feature-rich and robust live streaming module helped address each and every aspect of brand and consumer pain points.

Describe the strategy

This is the third year that the the MP Ecommerce platform has been running. However the strategy had to be drastically rethought in early 2020, due to the sudden disruption from CV-19. The pandemic led to users spending 70% more time on their mobile devices.* Additionally, 54% of users watched more streaming content.* How could Sephora adapt their strategy to reflect this evolution in consumer behaviour? Their challenge was aided through Tencent making live streaming technology available on it's WeChat platform. This allowed Sephora to leverage it's community of KOLs and famous makeup artists, to make live streaming content available to users in their MP *GlobalWebIndex’s CV-19 Multi market study, wave 5, July 2020

Describe the execution

The technology evolution that made live streaming available on WeChat underpinned the entire activity. The live streaming module allowed users to access a schedule of upcoming live streaming content on the Sephora MP. Users would receive a notification just before any selected stream starts. During the stream, users can join Q&As, as well as directly access product detail pages (PDP) to purchase. Own media was used as the main channels for communicating the platform enhancement. As all existing users of the platform had an existing relationship with Sephora, this was the most efficient channel. Being China and WeChat, this was almost entirely on mobile. Broadcasts from Sephora's WeChat Official Account were the primary form of communication; both in terms of launching the new feature to users, as well

List the results

The program in 2020 far and away exceeded the strategic objectives. Specifically comparing like for like campaign periods from 2019 to 2020, in this case 30 May 2020 versus 1 Jun 2019: MP channel share more than doubled, growing 117% MPs contribution to total sales, grew 2.35x The use of live streaming has effectively introduced a new user experience and path to purchase on mobile. Users are able to seek out upcoming live streams from their favourite KOLs or make up experts on the MP. These streams met their need for additional content during CV-19, but also offered the opportunity to purchase, should the product(s) introduction during the stream, appeal to them.

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