Integrating Live Video For Brands, Organizations And App Developers Via Bambuser

Like everything else in the modern digital world of today, the definition of commerce, specifically in person shopping, home shopping and now online shopping, has dramatically evolved into ecommerce. It was a rapidly growing trend before the pandemic, and it continues to surge after it.

Once upon a time, the often strain of shopping in person was eased by the arrival of HSN (Home Shopping Network) in 1982, which was launched as the Home Shopping Club, a local cable channel seen on Vision Cable and Group W Cable in Pinellas County, Florida, and then QVC (Quality Value Television) in 1986, among others. Home shopping allowed consumers to shop for goods from the privacy of their own home. And the advent of the internet, and eventually social media, only magnified the experience, ultimately progressing into online sales, video commerce and social commerce.

The Evolution of Commerce

Video commerce, by definition, leverages live and shoppable video content to promote and sell products and services on the internet. It helps brands showcase products and convey information, hence driving engagement, building trust and, most importantly, boosting sales. Ecommerce videos can be used on websites, social media, and other online platforms to reach potential customers. And, according to the Square Future of Commerce report (via Wakefield Research), 58 percent of consumers have expressed interest in trying newer digital methods of shopping.

Once the hub for static product pages, QVC, for example, now features enhanced video shopping experiences at website QVC.com powered through technology from Bambuser, the state-of-the-art Live Video Shopping technology company.

“We’re empowering our QVC shoppers to engage with us in more direct, meaningful ways than ever before, creating digital experiences that feel every bit as ‘live and alive’ as our linear broadcasts do,” said Brian Beitler, Chief Marketing Officer, QVC and HSN in a statement. “Plus, with these new tools, we and our vendors can easily and efficiently test different livestreaming formats, lengths and themes on our ecommerce site and see what resonates. We’re building out QVC Livestreams as a destination for online shoppers who want to have fun, informal conversations with experts and celebrities.”

Enter Bambuser

Launched in 2007, the initial role of the now global Live Shopping SaaS provider Bambuser was to stream and share live video using a smartphone or a computer equipped with a webcam. In addition to being accessible on the Bambuser website, videos could also be shared on various social media websites (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, for example). But what put Bambuser on the map, so to speak. in those early years was not necessarily all that profitable.

“When I stepped into the role as CEO at Bambuser, it was challenging because we did not have a product that differentiated us from the market at the time,” noted, Maryam “Mary” Ghahremani, who joined the company in 2018. Prior to Bambuser, Ghahremani held positions at companies such as Swedish watch brand TRIWA, technology companies Wrapp and Acast, Schibsted Media Group, and Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

“We had something we built from the company’s inception, which was the mobile live streaming solution. But we never really had a lot of customers, any data, or any revenue,” she said. “My role was to pivot into something that would grow the company.”

Flash to the present and the variety of retailers, brands and ecommerce companies that now utilize the Bambuser technology (in addition to QVC) run the gamut from mainstream to end-end. Think Bloomingdale’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Adidas, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Hugo Boss, LVMH, IKEA, Fendi, Dior, Farfetch, Tommy Hilfiger and Louis Vuitton, to name a few. And think of the unlimited demographic categories that can be targeted.

“At the beginning of Bambuser, the goal was to give the free speech, or free will, back to the people in terms of providing them with a platform where they could stream live and nobody could fake anything,” said Ghahremani. “But originating as a media hub to record live news was not advantageous for the future, and it was really a turnaround case of finding something we could tap into to make the company grow. Since we already had the backend of the technology, we had to build the frontend.”

“We started to look at current trends and the one that inspired us the most, and made us make the jump, was how China went from zero to about 20 percent of global domination in the ecommerce market,” she explained. “Eighty-two percent of all internet traffic in 2025 is projected to be video. And while brick-and-mortar is not going to die, it is undergoing its biggest change since it evolved. These trends made us pivot into media commerce.”

Bambuser as an eCommerce Platform

Shifting to live video for brands, organizations, and app developers, Bambuser is now described as an SaaS provider for companies seeking a deeper connection with their companies across all digital platforms.

Bambuser LiveShopping enables retailers to livestream directly to their audience by simply using a mobile phone. The livestream integrates with the various retailer websites where the viewers can easily purchase the available products. There are no limits to the amount of content you can stream or the number of people who can watch your video.

As a testimonial to Bambuser, the social commerce market is projected to increase globally to more than $2 trillion by 2025, according to a recent study by the McKinsley Global Institute (which provides a fact base to aid decision making on economic and business issues). Americans reportedly spent $1.7 trillion online during the last two years of pandemic, according to data from Adobe (which was a 55 percent increase in spending online from two years earlier). And video usage grew 24 percent in 2022, now accounting for approximately 65 percent of all internet traffic, according to application and network intelligence company Sandvine’s 2023 Global Internet Phenomena report.

“Following the historic COVID-driven internet traffic surges of 2020 and 2021, the ‘new normal’ in application usage and volumes seems to be here to stay,” said Sandvine Chief Solutions Officer Samir Marwaha in a statement. “The rapid acceleration of digitization led to an enhanced reliance on applications and a rapid evolution toward more sophisticated apps that fuse together multiple functions and features.”

“Video is almost to the point where it can no longer be considered a standalone category, as it’s now integral to conferencing, gaming, social networking, messaging, and virtually all apps that want to drive interactions and engagement,” he added.

“Naturally, consumer behavior, of course, has changed in many ways since the pandemic. Shopping no longer needs to be an out-of-home experience thanks, in part, to digital enablers like Bambuser,” noted Mike Tankel, partner/optimist at marketing and development firm To Be Continued. “Shopping, like entertainment, now happens from the palm of our hand, with data showing that people retain 95 percent of what they see in a video versus just 10 percent of what they read in an ad. And Bambuser has tapped into a marketplace ripe for its technology.”

Reshaping Commerce Through Bambuser

Earlier this year, Bambuser announced two major developments to the technology. The first is One-to-Many Mobile SDK, which enables its clients to take full control of the video commerce experience through their own apps. And the second is One-to-One Bookings, where customers can book calls at a time that suits them, which avoids missed sales opportunities.

“Through our product range we are driving the transition in retail and the development of the next generation’s online shopping,” noted Maryam Ghahremani. “We saw an opportunity, we found the right people, and we continue to embrace the growing value of video commerce.”

“We had a compelling story to begin with,” she added. “And we continue to bridge the gap between physical retail and the online customer experience.”