What’s New with Chinese Live Shopping?
Popular influencer streamers Li Jiaqi and Viya took live streaming to a new level. On October 20th, 2021, they streamed for 14 hours and sold $3.1 billion in GMV. This total crowned the duo winners of Single’s Day, China’s biggest shopping day of the year. While Americans spent $4.8 billion on Black Friday last year, shoppers in China spent $115 billion.
Single’s Day makes Black Friday seem small, as does Li Jiaqi and Viya’s livestream. They sold almost 10% of the entire Single’s Day event in 2020. These sales mostly consisted of products like essential oils, skincare, and cosmetics. Fun fact: Li Jiagi is nicknamed “Lipstick Brother” as he often tries on lipstick to demonstrate product.
There were 200 million people who viewed the 14-hour long live stream. Other streamers made more sales than usual. For example, Cherie sold $187 million. This shows how popular the eCommerce market is in China, and the popularity is spreading globally. Livestreamers everywhere can take a few tips from Li Jiaqi and Viya to optimize their eCommerce streams.
Ecommerce is Going Live
Ecommerce shoppable livestreaming has been gaining popularity over the years, and interest spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. As stores closed down, customers turned to digital stores to buy their products. Many turned to live video shopping to see influencers demonstrate and sell products.
Ecommerce stores continuously turn to influencers to promote their products. Influencers can interact with the viewers, talk about the products, and show them in real-time. This keeps viewers engaged and saves them time by not needing to find reviews before making a purchase. The Influencer Marketing Hub said that the industry will grow by $13.8 this year. 45% of digital shoppers above the age of 14 will buy products via livestream in 2023.
Social media sites are taking their cue and growing towards live commerce as well. Platforms that were not originally built for eCommerce are expanding to accommodate live streams. Facebook is beginning to host “Live Shopping Fridays” to help stores sell their products directly from social media sites.
Why Did Li Jiaqi and Viya’s Livestream Work?
There are many reasons why Li Jiaqi and Viya’s Livestream curated so many sales. They already have a large following and their stream was 14 hours long, but there are a few other things that helped boost performance:
1. The Influencers Built Trust
Li Jiaqi created a trusted relationship with his viewers. He gives honest reviews of the products he’s endorsing and only sells what he recommends. His viewers trust him to say what they should and shouldn’t buy. When Li Jiaqi promotes something, his viewers are quick to purchase the product.
2. The Products Had a Better Price
Many people buy from live streams because they receive special discounts and exclusive offers.
Takeaways from Li Jiaqi and Viya’s Livestream
The world of eCommerce live streaming has been growing exponentially since the pandemic, and Single’s Day has only increased the demand. Here’s what you can apply to your eCommerce business:
Be Trustworthy
Ensure that your products are endorsed by a trustworthy voice. Customers will buy from someone that they can trust to give an honest review.
Stay Consistent
Popular live streamers gain an audience by being active online and posting content consistently. Have a scheduled time to livestream and interact with your audience.
Always Adapt
As you get used to livestream shopping, pay attention to what gets the most engagement and what gets ignored by the audience. This data will be key as you grow your business. Leaning into what works and listening to your customers will drive more sales and create a positive impression of your brand.
Use a Solid Platform
Though Li Jiaqi and Viya’s livestream was huge, it still had its complications. The live streaming platform, Taobao Marketplace, crashed for 20 minutes. The site where merchants could manage their store, Qianniu, was also affected.
This is why it is key to have a trusted streaming platform like eStreamly. eStreamly makes it easy to sell your products right from your livestream shopping. We provide you with everything you need for a successful stream. We can set you up with an engaging host and distribute streams to other social media platforms. Visit us online to create your store or become a host today.
