Streaming is a great option for Online Shopping Channels

Tulix is increasingly serving online shopping channels and helping them stream their content and reach more viewers.  Their requirements are very similar to FAST Channel clients that we also service with the exception that they not relying on advertisements for revenue generation.  Like our FAST channel customers they will also benefit greatly from AI and ML enhancements to live streaming workflows that will make shopping channels even more interactive, dynamic and efficient.  Online shopping channels are good content for online streaming and lean back streamers watch these channels.  In this article we will highlight some of the advantages to streaming online shopping channels and some of the challenges that must be addressed.  

 

Reasons to stream Online Shopping Channels

Attract more shoppers!

Increasingly consumers are ditching expensive cable bundles and streaming online OTT content.  Online shopping businesses need to go to where the eyeballs are.  Those eyeballs are online.  Plus, when it comes to streaming … the world is your audience.  Leveraging video streaming services, the size of an online shopping’s audience can be limitless. 

 

Promote business online

Social posts and email campaigns can all be part of the promotion to drive people toward an online shopping network.  SEO efforts and SEM / PPC campaigns can all be leveraged to steer more traffic to online shopping networks.  People live digital lives in this day in age.  Messaging and advertising to them online makes tons of sense if that is where they will ultimately watch content.    

 

Share more information about items for sale

Consumers can get better information about items being sold on streamed shopping networks versus basic e-commerce sites.  The amount of information to share about items is virtually limitless when you are creating video content about them.  A QVC or Home Shopping Network style show can focus on different items, different product themes, and provide the ability to take a deep dive on product information and sales pitches!    

 

Integrated E-Commerce

The entire shopping process can be integrated with the streaming platform.  A digital shopping platform can process 1,000’s of simultaneous transactions from around the world.  Instant feedback can even be provided to show hosts and can be tracked online for the viewers.  Our Tulix data center can host all the back office needed or connect to cloud e-commerce solutions. 

 

Engage with customers

We mentioned showing live results and shopping information above.  Online shopping channels can also provide direct digital interaction with viewers and customers.  Chat functions can be enabled, surveys can be set up and data can be collected from attendees to make the current interaction more fun and the next engagement with them even more customized. 

 

Technical challenges to stream Online Shopping Channels

Streaming online channels from a content perspective is very similar to streaming movie, news, or sports content.  Sometimes the content is live, sometime the content is recorded, … but always there needs to be a back office to process incoming orders.  Like all streaming, when thinking of challenges, it comes down to the fact that there are a lot of moving parts, and that performance, security and the back office requirements need to be addressed. 

 

Regarding the many moving parts, receiving the incoming video and audio feeds must be done.  Encoding and setting up multiple profiles for different devices and bandwidth is also required.  Packaging for different types of devices must also be addressed.  Serving content over a CDN or CDNs must occur, and a good portal and app must be developed.  Incoming feedback from viewers and shoppers must be handled and transactions processed as well.  AI and ML is an important part of the support equation for shopping channels.  Being able to dynamically change content, metadata and viewer interaction features can dramatically improve the viewer experience and revenue generation.  Fortunately, Tulix can address all these points with our end to end solutions.  Regarding security, at Tulix we run everything out of our data center and pay close attention to security.  We are not building our platform on someone else’s cloud infrastructure.  This makes our customer platforms more secure in addition to being more cost effective.  We will co-locate in other data centers for back up and redundancy.  These locations are either Tulix owned and operated sites or space we have utilized for multiple years. 

 

Want to Learn More? 

Tulix has been providing streaming solutions and services since the start of streaming video.  We provide live event streaming with low latency, OTT, and IPTV solutions, plus TullixCDN, a low cost and efficient content delivery network.  Tulix offers video playout and cloud origination from our data center suitable for all types of content owners.  Tulix also has FAST and FAST network and channel services and partners with portals for aggregating and monetizing streaming channels and content.  Tulix provides end to end video delivery services and platforms that include transcoding, content management, monetization and billing, analytics, security, and apps for viewers and subscribers.  We serve content owners, broadcasters, OTT and IPTV operators, enterprises, house of worship and live event streaming customers.  Please contact us here to discuss online shopping streaming, or any video streaming requirements!   http://tulix.com/contact