Livestreaming gives boost to retail sales

Broadcasting craze

On Nov 26, Yang spent six hours helping to attract sales of nearly 100,000 yuan ($14,500) to a small store in the Sijiqing clothing market in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province.

The numbers are even higher for more popular livestreamers. On Nov 11, China's annual Singles Day shopping festival, the top broadcaster on Taobao helped to sell 267 million yuan of products in two hours, according to Global E-businessmen, an Alibaba-backed media platform.

Industry giants like Alibaba, which owns Taobao, have been fueling the trend.

In September, Taobao invited more than 30 online broadcasters to promote a major leather market in Zhejiang, and broadcasts were arranged for the annual shopping fair held on Dec 12, according to the company.

Even Jack Ma, Alibaba's chairman, joined a livestreaming challenge to sell lipstick on Nov 10 by pitting himself against 26-year-old Li Jiaqi, a popular broadcaster who attracted around 15,000 orders in just five minutes during one of his most-viewed broadcasts.

During the show, Li tried on different kinds of lipstick and presented them on the back of his hand, while introducing trending colors and describing the feel of the products to the audience. Ma, who sat beside him, clumsily followed suit.

As a result, Li sold 1,000 tubes of lipstick, 100 times higher than the sales Ma achieved.

Sun Hanjie, a publicity expert with Taobao's livestreaming arm, said such influencers have created sales of nearly 100 billion yuan in the past year for sellers on the platform, and over 1,200 have more than a million fans.

"The company has partnered with dozens of traditional businesses covering areas including clothing, makeup, maternal and infant products, and cuisine to boost sales through livestreaming," Sun said.