6 reasons why online shopping events will become increasingly relevant

As online shopping becomes more popular, online retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with a deepening competitive field. In order to stay competitive, they need to find new and innovative ways to bring in customers. One strategy quickly gaining popularity is hosting online shopping events. Online shopping events allow customers to browse and shop from the comfort of their own home, and they often offer great deals and discounts. These events are quickly becoming the preferred way for consumers to shop, and online retailers who don't offer this experience may find themselves left behind. 

While online shopping events are nothing new, they are becoming more and more popular as time goes on. This is because they offer a convenient and hassle-free way for consumers to shop. In addition, online retailers often offer great deals and discounts at these events, which makes them even more appealing. As virtual shopping becomes more popular, online shopping events will become more relevant and key to companies' marketing strategies. Online retailers who don't offer this experience will be at a disadvantage. 

If you're an online retailer, it's time to start thinking about how you can incorporate online shopping events into your marketing strategy. In this article we’ll explain 6 main reasons why it's a good idea for your business to start your venture into online shopping events, if you haven’t already.   

1. Scalable 

The easier, more sustainable and cost-effective it is for your company to replicate events or replicate content and the interactions it can have in different formats to suit the different needs of your customers, the more profitable it will be for your business. These platforms allow your marketing team to organize events in minutes and duplicate them as many times as you want without significantly increasing efforts translated into money or time.   

2. Higher ROI and lower costs 

Virtual shopping events also have the incredible advantage of saving a lot of your on-site event budget. You reduce costs in catering, hotel rental, booth, POP material, among other expenses. Also, since virtual shopping events lower your cost per customer, you have the opportunity to increase the number of attendees to your event and redirect your budget to expanding your digital marketing campaigns. This will help you improve your ROI metrics and expand your efforts to improve your conversion metrics. 

3. Broader audience  

Virtual events don’t just benefit you—they also benefit your attendees. Virtual events are highly accessible. They break geographical barriers, and, as we mentioned before, reduce many costs for attendees including the cost of admission and travel expenses. Attendees who previously wouldn’t have been able to attend an in-person event due to distance and budget restrictions will find it easier to attend an online event in the comfort of their own home. In addition, they allow or facilitate the participation of people with mobility disabilities. By being able to add subtitles, audio assistance or sign language in most of the formats of the event's content.   

4. Content is king 

With the optimization in time, money and logistics, your team will be able to focus their efforts on improving the content that will be shown during the event. In addition, you can anticipate the type of interaction you want your audience to have with the different formats in which you present your content, you can dynamize your event to increase the participation of your viewers with surveys, contests, quizzes, among others. What’s more, you can invest more time in the narrative sequence that will take your customers or potential customers by the hand during the event, allowing you greater control of the information they digest and retain their attention for longer. With virtual events you will have greater control of what you want to portray with your content, and it will be of great benefit if you accompany it with a good business strategy. 

5. Better networking 

Having a virtual platform for events at hand allows your customers to connect in the most convenient way for them, either through forums, calls or chats, in which they can participate in specific topics or more open sessions. These channels make it easy to follow conversations between all participants once a connection has been established. Moreover, connecting exhibitors with clients or sponsors is a key piece for your event, virtuality allows each attendee to know at their own pace each booth or each sponsor's guideline according to their topics of interest. 

6. Real-time feedback 

Contrary to a face-to-face event, holding a virtual event not only allows you to obtain data during the registration of the event, but you can also acquire metrics that will help you in your future events, such as real-time attendance, heat maps in the areas most frequented by attendees, the most downloaded content, the speakers with the highest participation rate among others. All these metrics will give your business analytics great accuracy and consequently it will improve your sales and marketing strategy. 

Virtual shopping events, on specialized platforms, have allowed the development of new approaches towards interaction with consumers. It has become easier for your company to achieve its marketing objectives such as increasing brand awareness, generating new leads, increasing customer loyalty or creating new business opportunities with other companies, among others. 

Also, they have become a sustainable sales strategy since they have allowed a reduction in costs derived from the logistics of a face-to-face event. If you're an online retailer, it's time to start thinking about how you can incorporate online shopping events into your business model. This is the future of online shopping, and those who don't adapt will be left behind. Don't let your business fall behind the times – start planning your online shopping event today!