Livestreaming is an important contributor to growth in the Chinese E-Commerce sector
While overall retail consumption was down 16.2% in the first quarter of 2020, eCommerce sales increased by 8.6% compared to the same period in 2019.
Online food sales jumped 32.7% from January to March this year.
—National Bureau of Statistics of China
This shift from offline to online is significant and has continued after the lockdown, leading customer’s online shopping habits to leapfrog at least one or two years, especially in the grocery category.
Livestreaming e-commerce has taken the lead
Chinese people’s attention is more than ever focused on the digital world with an ever-growing internet user base. With the rise of KOLs, it was only a questions of time before live-streaming become the norm when marketing in China.
The total scale of China’s live streaming e-commerce industry reached RMB 433.8 billion in 2019 and is expected to double by the end of 2020.
Louis Vuitton debuts livestreaming on Little Red Book.
Source: iResearch
Brick and mortar shopping malls, along with other sectors, are being rescued by livestreaming e-commerce
During the epidemic, with 5G developing, livestreaming has shown even more possibilities. 5G capabilities have made a big difference, as signals are more stable and pictures are clearer.
In addition to retail, livestreaming has really stood out in education, entertainment, and tourism.
Douyin offers livestream education.
Real Estate agent shows properties to his fanbase via livestreaming
2 million users watching livestreamed real estate events on Taobao Live
During the epidemic, more and more industries turned to livestreaming e-commerce and it moved beyond the standard products. People were even selling houses. On April 24, Evergrande Group, one of China’s biggest real estate companies, had over 3.8 million viewers for its livestream and it racked up 7.12 million likes. During the broadcast, 38 discounted apartments sold out in one second.
D Live’s top influencers Xu Fei who helped Ao and Li promote their flowers. Broadcasts typically last one to two hours. At its peak, this one surpassed 1 million viewers.
Live-streaming helped China’s farmers survive the pandemic. It’s here to stay.
Local villagers in Xiping County of central China’s Henan Province are relying on live streaming as a new marketing tool to sell clothes amid the COVID-19 epidemic. The apparel industry creates a significant amount of jobs in China, especially in rural areas. Since March, the monthly registration of livestreaming enterprises has reached a record high. In May, the number hit 2,877 – 684 percent higher than the same period in 2019.
