Succeeding in eCommerce means creating a user-centric digital shopping experience that is engaging, fun, and fast. The only downside is that in a crowded digital landscape, shoppers often skip past the crucial conversion step of completing a purchase due to frustration or distraction. In-Story checkout solves this problem by creating a sleek, streamlined conversion solution directly within the internet’s most captivating format for content delivery. Users can add featured products to their cart, complete with customization options like size and color, and checkout with Apple or Google Pay, all without leaving the Story. Marketers can reduce the risk of missing those crucial micro-moments of desire, and shoppers can get the products they want with the convenience and speed they need. It’s that simple.
Storyly’s Latest Feature: In-Story Checkout
The mobile shopping landscape is changing every day with thousands of online retailers competing not just for users’ attention, but for their brand investment, and of course, conversions. With Statista projecting nearly $512 billion in mobile retail eCommerce sales for 2023, and Tech Spot reporting that roughly a third of the time users spend on their phones is spent shopping, it’s clear that customer demand for digital shopping is high.
While these statistics indicate incredible opportunities for online retailers, it’s important to remember that the competition is fierce. It’s more crucial than ever to make sure that your digital shopping experience is optimized for modern shoppers and ready to meet their expectations and needs. Which is why we’re excited to introduce a new feature from Storyly: In-Story checkout.
With In-Story checkout, it’s faster than ever for users to say yes to products and services with an instant cart builder and checkout platform directly within the Story format. Users won’t have to leave the Story that captivated their attention to add items to their cart and can check out right away, in one easy step.
Online Shopping Leads in Product Discovery, But What About Conversion?
Remember that old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, we’d like to know the exchange rate on short videos these days because Animoto has found that given the choice between reading a product description and watching a short video about the product, users preferred the video at four times the rate of the text description. Additionally, Business Wire shows that 85% of online shoppers ages 18-34 reported buying a product after seeing a video about it, nearly 60% said they engaged with a brand after seeing a video on social media, and 30% expressed a desire for direct links to purchase the featured products.
Video content, especially short video content, is one of the best tools that marketers have available to find and connect with their audience, and Stories are an ideal format for delivering that content. Shoppable video Stories then, make for a perfect pairing between the convenience and ease of mobile shopping, and the dynamic excitement of the social-first digital landscape. When users discover new products in short videos, they can imagine the look and feel of the product and imagine how it would fit into their life, solve a problem, or otherwise make them happy. But what happens next?
If the industry-wide mobile shopping cart abandonment rate of 70% is anything to go by, lots of times, what happens next, is…nothing.
But why the disconnect? Clearly, mobile users love shopping online, they love discovering new products with videos and Stories, and when they find something they like, they say they want to find out more about the brand and purchase the products. So why don’t they?
The answer lies in what Google calls “micro-moments;” key points in the online user journey that are intention-rich and highly focused. Essentially, users regularly have experiences of “I want to learn it, I want to watch it, I want to buy it, I want to do it NOW!” but then their ride-share shows up, or a text comes in, or someone asks what they have planned for dinner, or one of a million other possible distractions come up. Attention scarcity takes over, and the moment is gone.
Naturally, this is incredibly frustrating for marketers, who need a solution to close the loop between discovery and conversion and need to do so in the length of a micro-moment. And that’s where Storyly’s In-Story checkout comes in.
Fewer Decisions, Fewer Distractions
Obviously, we love the Story format; it’s full-screen, mobile-native, and immersive. It’s the most engaging way to communicate with mobile users, especially in the context of eCommerce. Stories help retailers show more products in less space, make navigation easier and faster, and create an interactive user-centric experience.
In-Story checkout is the natural next step to helping shoppers make confident decisions in a crowded mobile landscape. Stories already help reduce distractions by creating a full-screen, immersive experience, and shoppable Stories are particularly valuable for providing social proof and helping users picture products in real life. By creating targeted Story campaigns informed by user data, marketers can even reduce overwhelm for their customers by showcasing relevant products with personalized messaging. And now, it’s possible to eliminate the additional barriers to conversion such as account creation or payment entry, with a checkout process that is fun, friendly, and most of all, FAST.
Apple Pay and Google Pay integrations let users pay quickly while knowing that their payment method is safe and secure, increasing trust, and reducing cart abandonment.
It’s time to elevate the shopping experience with in-Story checkout, a unique, single-tap conversion solution that makes it easier than ever for users to build carts and place orders the moment they fall in love with your product.
In-Story Checkout in Action
Shoppertainment with Influencers
Influencer marketing remains one of the most powerful promotion tools for digital marketing. Per Shopify, almost one-third of shoppers say influencer recommendations are more important than recommendations from friends and family, and 71% of businesses expect online influencers to become even more important in the future. Not only do influencers help customers imagine the look and feel of a product with testing and unboxing videos, they also bring a fun, social element to the shopping experience. In-Story checkout helps users quickly purchase the featured products without having to leave the Story experience.
Shop the Recipe
Grocery delivery apps can utilize the power of recipe Stories to encourage their customers to try new foods and inspire their next meals. With in-Story checkout, it’s easy for customers to watch a Story featuring a recipe they’d like to try, and build their grocery cart with the ingredients directly in the Story! Solve the “What’s for dinner?” conundrum and offer an easy solution to get your users started cooking.
Say Yes to the Dress (or Shoes, or Watch, or…)
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In-Story checkout is a natural fit for fashion retailers, helping shoppers get the exact look featured on a model right away. Shoppable Stories are a fun way to showcase the latest looks, bringing the best of social-media style product discovery right to your app or website, and speeding the path to conversion so shoppers can rock their new favorites right away.
What to find out more about this new Storyly feature? Book a call today.
