In past articles, I’ve talked about the explosive growth of Retail Media. The other part of the commerce evolution though is around shoppable media. I wanted to outline how we are thinking about this rapidly changing space in what we call Liquid Commerce.
Liquid Commerce is all about giving consumers a more seamless shopping experience. Legacy eCommerce models required bringing consumers into an eCommerce experience to shop and transact–they were dependent on Paid, Owned, and Earned media to drive traffic. The “click” was king.
But with the evolution of new and innovative shopping platforms, media formats, and technology partners – more frictionless shopping experiences can be brought to the consumer. Effectively letting the purchase “flow” to the shopper, when and where they are. Social Commerce gets a lot of attention, but it is just one (key) part of the larger Liquid Commerce ecosystem.
We can look at Liquid Commerce across three key pillars:
Shoppable Formats – think social commerce or shoppable video. The formats are media units and touchpoints that create a more native commerce experience “inside a media unit” without requiring shoppers to click out to shop and buy.
Pinterest recently announced new features that will allow shoppers to buy directly on platform. Beyond social commerce integrations, this also includes partners like KERV that can turn video assets into shoppable moments or shoppable content partnerships like Meredith’s partnership with Walmart and Kroger for shoppable recipes.
Technology & Commerce Enablers – these enablers add enhanced shopping functionality to commerce experiences in a couple of key ways.
- Powering commerce experiences via web and social apps or across multiple storefronts with single log-in/checkout tools (e.g Shopify)
- Connecting media to indirect retail inventory/availability (e.g. MikMak, SmartCommerce, or Channel Advisor)
- Creating enhanced fulfillment and direct distribution solutions (e.g. DarkStore)
New buying/shopping Platforms – the leading edge of commerce, these are the emerging platforms like live shopping and social storefronts that are changing the game. If Shoppable formats are about bringing the “transaction” experience to the shoppers, these are about bringing the entire category or store.
In the end, Liquid Commerce is a way to organize all these media and technology evolutions around a common theme – creating a more seamless shopping experience for consumers.
How are your brands thinking about the future of shoppable experiences and Liquid Commerce?
By John Elliott – SVP, PSOne Commerce Lead
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