Bambuser is a live video platform that allows brands anywhere in the world to connect with their audience in real time by providing advanced technology for live video streaming, product introduction, and user interaction. 

We spoke with Aya Hallberg, Business Development Manager for Japan, about the appeal of its product, its company culture, and Bambuser’s plans for the future.

This blog article is a translation of our interview with Aya.
You can watch the full interview in Japanese at the bottom of this article.

Congratulations on winning the LVMH's 2021 Innovation Award! Live video shopping is often referred to as the future of retail. Can you tell us a bit more about Bambuser?

To give a quick introduction, Bambuser offers two video solutions: One-to-Many live video shopping and One-to-One personal shopping

One-to-Many allows companies to promote their products to their audience on a large yet intimate scale. One-to-One, on the other hand, allows companies to carefully introduce their products and provide customer service to individual users who are unable to visit their physical stores. 

One of Bambuser’s main strengths is its simplicity to distribute. Many people have the image that live-streaming is a difficult task that requires a lot of camera equipment and an actual studio. With Bambuser, however, you only need your smartphone. Live streaming has never been easier.

Another strength of Bambuser is its high-quality video technology, which has been refined over the past 15 years since the company was founded in 2007. Our technology was utilized in the world of journalism before we focused on live retail. Therefore, we are proud of our high image quality, which can display even the smallest details, such as the texture of cosmetics.

This high image quality increases the joy of shopping through live streaming for our audience and the fact that you can seamlessly purchase the promoted products from the video site leads to high conversion rates.

What industries do you work with?

Our main industries for now are fashion and beauty. In Japan cosmetics makers Shiseido and Estee Lauder are already active users of our service. Estee Lauder told us after a recent campaign that:

"Compared to broadcasting on Instagram, we received 10 times more likes, and sales conversions have increased about 500-fold," 

This shows that quality products, the joy of live online shopping and a simple UI to purchase products contributed to high conversions.

The live commerce industry is rapidly growing worldwide, partly due to the Corona Pandemic. What is the current situation in Europe, the U.S., China, and Japan?

The live commerce market was booming in China even before the pandemic. After the coronavirus outbreak, live commerce gained popularity in Europe and the United States, and is becoming a standard for sales promotion, with an increasing number of companies setting up departments dedicated to live commerce. 

In many cases images and voice information are not enough to convey product information such as how to use cosmetics. That’s what makes live commerce different from traditional e-commerce. In addition, live commerce is great at creating a valuable experience for the customer that is similar to interacting with a beauty advisor in a physical store.

The Japanese market is also expanding, but the peak is yet to come, and there is a lot of room for growth. In Japan, there are many fans of brands and many curious people who seek a lot of information about products. Companies are also eager to provide such information, so we see a significant need for content production and distribution that contributes to branding. 

Bambuser also offers advice on what kind of content can bridge the distance between the company and the customer as well as how to increase credibility. We believe it is one of the strengths of Bambuser and its potential for branding effects.

Why did Bambuser decide to enter Japan and what are your goals for the Japanese market?

We were already working with clients in Japan from Sweden for some time now and we received many comments from our clients in Japan that they would be happy if we could provide better support in Japan. Additionally we saw a lot of potential in the Japanese market for expansion so we made it a key market to focus on in 2022.

Legally we established Bambuser in Japan in 2021 and then in February 2022 I moved here from the Swedish headquarters to roll out the Japan business. 

As mentioned before our main industries are fashion and beauty, but we would also like to expand into areas such as entertainment, food, and regional development. Japan has a wonderful culture, including video games and anime, as well as delicious local foods throughout the country. Every area has its own local dish that the population is proud of. We would like to provide support for communicating these attractions. In fact, we have just received a request from a company in Okinawa to hold a product exhibition through live commerce. There are a lot of exciting opportunities here in Japan.

What are the characteristics of Bambuser's organizational culture?

Bambuser is a publicly listed company from Sweden and I believe we have a Scandinavian culture. We have a very flat hierarchy and culture that really values teamwork. Remote work is the norm and to stay connected we have a weekly all company online meeting where everyone from different countries participates. This way we can catch up with each other and share information.I also have a lot of catch-ups with different team members so I have never felt lonely in Japan although I am here by myself.

We also do a very Swedish thing called “Fika" (online) which is a coffee break, where we take some time off to get a coffee and often a small snack with our colleagues. It really helps members to understand each other and improve teamwork. How can we provide better products and support our customers? We have a culture in which we can discuss such topics together and aim for growth together. Another very Scandinavian aspect of our culture  is the strong focus on work life balance. Private time is valued a lot and we understand that employees who have a good work life balance are happier and therefore more productive without having to work long hours.

You are currently in charge of business development in Japan? What does your hiring plan look like for the near future?

We are looking to hire for three positions right now: 

• sales manager to lead sales, 

• sales to actually develop the market

• account management to manage our clients.

What qualities and skills do you look for in new hires?

Every new hire needs to have a proactive mindset and can’t be afraid to take action and learn new things. Always ask yourself "What can we do to make live commerce more useful?" If you are a person who is curious and eager for input, and finds joy in making proposals tailored to target companies, I believe this is a rewarding environment for you.

In addition, although we usually use Japanese, communication with other teams is conducted in English, as our head office is in Sweden. Therefore, I think it is important to be able to communicate in English. If you enjoy working together with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds and collaborating in English, this is the perfect place for you. All members of the team are friendly and supportive, and you will be able to catch up on your knowledge of the industry after joining the company.

Lastly, please tell us about your company's vision.

Our primary goal is to show our Japanese customers that our live video shopping platform has a wide variety of use cases and is full of possibilities. As we grow in Japan, we would like to show that this platform can be used not only for selling goods, but also for various other purposes, such as charity.

Watch the full interview (Japanese)

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Misato Matsuo
Japan Interviewer's Association certified interviewer and writer
Content Manager at Flier Inc.

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