It doesn’t sound like a big deal… but it is.
$135 billion dollars (to be exact). That’s how much revenue is expected to be generated in e-commerce sales via livestreams in China this year.
Last year live-streaming was 1 of the top 3 most used tactics used by marketers in China. With Covid19 audiences, competition, and uses have increased.
Alibaba owned ‘Taobao Live’ increased 7X in first-time customers. Pinduoduo’s live-streaming views grew 5x in March (month over month).
In February users averaged 120 minutes watching livestreams on Douyin (compared to 89 minutes with other content). On Bilibili a similar trend emerged. On average, users watched 190 minutes of livestream content and 105 minutes of other content.
The number of industries flocking to livestreaming to drive sales has been mind-bending.
JD.com partnered with DJ’s to host weekly livestream performances. Alcohol brands sponsored the events and viewers could purchase with a single click. One whiskey advertiser increased sales 70 percent. Beer sales of another partner increased 40 percent.
On Douyin (ie TikTok in China) one livestream hosted by Luo Yonghao an entrepreneur and digital personality, drove $15.5 million in sales and 48 million viewers all in a 3 hour time span.
A Taobao live-streamer, Austin Li, generated 16 million viewers to watch (and purchase) his lipstick.
Even the farming industry has turned to live-streaming.
With traditional supply lines decimated due to Covid19, live-streaming has become a lifeline. Taobao now has over fifty thousands farmers live-streaming. They’re selling their crops direct to consumers.
“Growers who had once sold 90% of their products offline have now flipped to selling 90% online. Live-streaming has not only helped the industry weather the crisis—it’s forged an entirely new way of business that is likely to continue long after the pandemic is over.”
MIT Technology
China has mastered ‘shoppertainment’.
It seems as though each week there is a new streaming record being broken, new use, or new sales record. With dollars and audiences so massive, it’s a foregone conclusion we’ll see attempts by brands and platforms to replicate the habits and features here in the US.
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