Creating live shopping experiences with influencers

Much like today, consumers in this scenario rely on their peers, micro-influencers and social media stars for guidance on what to consume. Many have published their portfolio of favourite products on social media for others to purchase. Their selections may contain products from almost anywhere around the world. The promotions are not only about commissions: products and personal brands live in a creative symbiosis where they collect and share data to help each other stand out. Customers buy seamlessly via mobile, online stores, social media and streams, and it only takes one click to purchase the product. Consumers can specify their preferences and needs, such as special diets, brand loyalties or ethical considerations. People shop for their groceries online but also like to watch live streams from shopping events and buy the products on the spot. Stores are seen as happy places that bring feelings of continuity, sociality and security in a fast-paced world. AR helps them navigate the store and get personal advice from their peers in the store.

Retail chains have become vital nodes in a global superstore network that brokers local products to international customers hungry for exotic experiences. Their platforms harbour data on brands, products, user segment behaviours and sales times. This data is shared with all partners on the platform, who use it for forecasting and making better decisions on products and services. Partners have developed business models around different data packages.

The network of platforms links influencers and products, emphasising customer-centricity because the relationship between the product and consumer is where the magic happens. Influencers allow platforms to monitor the traffic of recommendations and resulting orders and receive provisions in return. Retailers who invest in experimental content productions with influencers, shopping events and live shopping streams are starting to see the returns on their investments.

In this scenario, any small brand could gain the attention of a rising social media star and be launched to greatness. Data platforms make anticipating changes in demand easier - if an influencer is trending, sales of their favourite products will follow. The scenario assumes that platforms and systems (e.g. e-commerce and product data platforms) could easily connect and integrate to other platforms (e.g. social media and supply chains) to deliver the products they want to international customers. Import and export imbalances between markets are a risk, and local brands could suffer. Licensed production closer to the markets should be implemented in an agile manner when demand stabilises. In this scenario, securing the trade secrets of original manufacturers is vital.

Stores are pick-up hubs, and retailers pre-order popular products in advance. Fresh food is still mainly produced and consumed locally, whereas jams, cheeses, wines, spices, sauces, beverages, snacks, candies and canned goods travel. The story is about a culinarian, but influencers could also be cross-selling appliances, apparel and textiles. This kind of global superstore fantasy would be environmentally challenging as products would be travelling in various directions at the consumers’ whims. On the other hand, if the total consumption stays the same and the CO2 keeps rising, we can imagine where it takes us...

On the other hand, this is already the case, except that global retail giants and international couriers manage the flows of products and money. In our scenario, more local players are involved. The flows of goods become more diverse with an AI that optimises routes and deliveries. A lot also depends on the kinds of products consumers prefer.

This story highlights social media shopping where some individuals promote products from near and far, and others purchase them effortlessly. Sophisticated platforms for harbouring, processing, sharing and handling data about the (possibly hyperlocal) products and their availability are needed.

As personalisation increases, easier service integration is required to create synergies. Standardisation and transparency of how services interact with each other help bring this about. For influencers and customers, an increase in personalisation also brings the need for an exceptional level of security and privacy. Here, technologies like zero trust architecture, edge computing and self-sovereign identity play an essential part. In zero trust architecture authentication is done for every step in the background and it does not allow access to the whole system at once. Edge computing brings computation and data handling close to the end-user. In practise this means mobile devices or computers that perform computation tasks earlier done in the cloud. Bringing computation closer to the actual source improves performance and privacy. Self-sovereign identity gives individual ownership over their identity, as opposed to technology companies or other institutions.

The platform’s user experience needs to be intuitive and enabling, without becoming a tracking nightmare, regardless of device. Zero trust system architecture answers these kinds of demands. In many cases, this sort of added security will not be visible to the user.

Technological enablers

• Data platforms
• Machine learning
• Edge computing
• Zero trust architecture
• Self-sovereign identity

The winners in this world maintain information about local brands, look after their immaterial properties or make global shopping more environmentally sustainable. Retailers who have found ways to make shopping entertaining to consumers win; retailers who build their systems that are easily adaptable to new situations, with high-quality data and rapid integrations, win pole position in the race for success. For example, retailers that provide vendors with better product and sales information have the edge over the competition. Retailers who help customers realise their fantasies of global shopping will thrive.