Will selling by live video in China emerge as a new sales channel?
Will the Chinese trend of live video selling spread to the United States and Europe? With consumers remaining at home, the virus triggered a new live streaming mania for the Chinese market. Admittedly, since 2017, this practice of “see now, buy now” has been commonplace in a foremost mobile country. In China, applications are crucial for entry into new communities, commerce and entertainment (WeChat, Weibo or Douyin), where influencers play a key role and where e-commerce platforms (Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com) compete for investment in technology. These capture a massive audience thanks to their major commercial shows. However, the Covid-19 crisis made this phenomenon even more popular.
The adoption of solutions to combat Covid-19 affected new sectors like automotive or property that are far more sophisticated than for textiles or cosmetics. This conquered a new category of sellers (or hosts, in technical language). Independent shop owners are also now improvised salespeople, thanks to a smartphone and a tie microphone. Finally, the new live stars have exploded their audience records and gained new respectability.
An example is Li Jiaqi, 28, nicknamed “Lipstick brother” as representative of this evolution. This former L’Oréal Beauty consultant has more than 40 million subscribers. He knows how to use personalised marketing techniques (direct and casual style) to encourage viewers to buy products. He achieved a record €140 million in sales in one day.