Striking the right voice and tone for your live shopping chat can be tricky. On the one hand, the live shopping experience you provide to your customers is an extension of your brand. On the other hand, customers want to feel like they’re talking to a real person. So here are some tips on striking the right voice and tone in your chat messages: 

Ask these questions to help find the right voice and tone for your live shopping chat: 

• What is the mood of this live shopping event? The tone of the chat should fit the mood, whether that’s playful, sophisticated, professional, quirky, or anything else. 
• Do you want the chat to feel more personal or more general? To create a more personal tone, you might include the customer’s name when answering their questions, for example. 
• As a brand, are there words or phrases that you use exclusively? Are there words or phrases your brand would never use? 
• How do you feel about emoji in chat? Does it fit with your brand or not?

The voice and tone of your chat might be different depending on the content of each live show, so it’s important to work out these details before you go live. 

Prepared messages

Before the stream starts, draft up a few messages to use in the chat: welcome message, instructions on how to shop, engagement triggers, discount codes, etc. 

Welcome message

This is the first chat message that viewers will see when the live stream starts, and the first message a new viewer will see in the chat when they start watching the show. 

As a moderator, take this opportunity to welcome your viewers, briefly explain what will happen during the stream, and how they can shop. Here’s a standard message that you can copy and paste: 

Hi and welcome to our live shopping with ((name of host/guest/brand)). We are so happy that you are joining us in this session. We will showcase our newest collection, give you styling tips AND there will be a surprise. Stay tuned!

You may want to repeat this message a few times throughout the broadcast. 

How to shop message

Your live stream might include people who are brand-new to live video shopping. For those people — and as a reminder for other, more seasoned shoppers — it’s a good idea to explain how live shopping works. Here are some standard messages you can adapt to your own use: 

Product card: You will see what we are showing on the product card to the left. Click on it to view more details.

Chat: Use the chat to ask questions to ((guest/host)) or write comments. We love to hear from you and we will make sure to answer you!

Likes: We will need your love to keep up our energy, use it to like what you see! 

Icon:  Click on the ((t-shirt)) icon to view all the products we will show in this live. 

Cart: View your shopping cart and check-out. 

Customer service messages

In many cases, you can anticipate the questions that customers will have. Before the live stream, prepare standard answers for all questions in regards to:  

• Payments
• Product specifications
• Promo codes
• Shipping
• Stock availability

...and so on. Then, when those questions are asked in the chat, you have the answers ready to go.

Engagement triggers

Engagement is the name of the game in live shopping! The more engaged your viewers are, the longer they’ll stay tuned in — and the more likely they are to buy. So have some pre-written engagement triggers ready to go. These questions will help get people chatting and boost engagement levels in your live stream. Your engagement trigger questions might look something like this: 

• Where are you watching from?
• Which one is your favorite?
• What would you like to see in the next live shopping?

Promo code

If you’re using a promo code in your live stream, decide in advance when you want to reveal the promo code to the audience. If the viewer knows a promo code reveal is coming up, they’ll stay longer. And once you reveal the promo code, pin the comment to ensure no-one misses it!

Thank you message

When wrapping up the show, thank your viewers for tuning in, remind them to complete their check-out, and explain how they can watch or share the replay later on. Here’s a standard message you can use: 

Thank you for joining us! You can re-watch the show in a recorded version on our site and don’t forget to use the promo code ((code)) at checkout. Happy shopping and can’t wait to see you at our next live show on ((date))!