As the U.S. prepares for its immersion in livestreaming, new data from China shows that the mid-year 618 shopping festival broke records for revenue and viewership. According to measurement company OāRatings, livestream shopping generated $449.5Ā millionĀ salesĀ during theĀ 618 festival.
āLive stream shopping has been developed since 2016 by e-commerce platforms inĀ ChinaĀ and set off an upsurge in 2018 when popular live-streamers could sell more thanĀ 300 million RMBĀ (43 million US$) a year and their online viewers could reach 10 million at one time,ā says OāRatings. āDuringĀ the pandemic,Ā bridgingĀ the gap between the source of goods and consumers,Ā theĀ Chinese government encouraged people to use live-streamingĀ to sell unsalable products caused by massive lockdownsĀ and upgradedĀ theĀ live-stream shopping industry. Now live stream is indispensable for product marketing in China.ā
OāRatings monitored 806,000 chat rooms across different platforms onĀ June 18th,Ā the central day of the mid-year shopping festival that lasted a week in some cases. It showed that the amount of sales was overĀ $500.6 million and 412 million viewers watched livestreamsĀ on that day. Taking the sales since the week before the festival day, total sales wereĀ $3.4 billion US. The top three best-selling categories on eCommerce platform Taobao were jewelry, clothes and food, and the top three on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) were food, mother and baby products andĀ cosmetics.
āTiming is very important when retailers choose live-streamersĀ to sell products. After calculation, it finds that every product is sold at a fixed frequency,ā the companyās research showed. āThose fast-consuming productsĀ have aĀ higher frequency than durable ones. For example, snacksā frequency is one day, while cellphoneās is 55 days. Because if a live-streamer sells cellphones today,Ā theĀ fans do not need to buy another phoneĀ for some time. When retailers promote their products by live stream, they should notice the time period of product and whether the live-streamer has sold the same kind of product recently.ā
Live streaming has taken Chinese retail into a new phase, Daniel Zipser, who leads McKinsey & Co.ās consumer and retail practice in China, told The Wall Street Journal. āFor retailers now itās about digital engagement, generating demand by exciting people and creating an experience.ā
āSome analysts say Chinaās embrace of live-stream retail offers a glimpse of the future of shopping everywhere,ā says the WSJ. āOthers think Chinese consumers are more open to watching shopping broadcasts on their phones than, say, their American counterparts.ā
Those American counterparts are just starting to get a taste of livestreaming. Glamhive is among a handful of companies bringing it to the U.S. Glamhive hosted its second event over the weekend, with noted Hollywood stylist Tara Swennen.
āThe style, beauty, and designer communities are a close-knit one; many of us have worked together or known each other for years ā and, this year has been a tough one. Iām thrilled by the opportunity to bring us all together and share our insights, experience, and advice with everyone who wants to be part of our community too,ā said Swennen.