TRENDS FEATURES
Livestreaming’s Next Battleground Reworking ecommerce into a social shopping experience
S
is crucial to keeping a brand afloat. The success of livestreaming as a sales strategy has pushed players outside China like Shopee to join in. As ecommerce giants strive to launch livestreaming platforms, retailers are seizing the opportunity to monetize another source of revenue.
Taking a walk on the retailer’s side
F
By MONIKA GHOSH
imilar to late-night infomercials or the Home Shopping Network, livestreaming in ecommerce offers more engaging and interactive content for a personalized and social shopping experience. Influencers or retailers display and try out different products, and customers can ask questions about the product in real-time. For example, Li Jiaqi–also known as Austin Li–is one of the most recognizable faces in China. Thanks to his 40 million followers on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese version, and his unique approach to sales, he was once able to sell 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes through a livestream video. The power of livestreaming in today’s retail environment has eclipsed almost every other ecommerce trend. The model had already proved lucrative for early success stories like Park Seo Yeon–whose ‘Mukbang’ videos (when hosts film them-
F
selves eating copious amounts of food while interacting with viewers) raked in over US$9,000 per month. But with bonafide ecommerce platforms getting into the game, brands are now seeing real potential in this model. Livestreaming in retail first emerged in China in 2014, when ecommerce platform Mogujie released a feature that combined live video with another burgeoning trend: influencer marketing. Alibaba’s Taobao followed suit soon after. Initially leveraged primarily by key opinion leaders (KOLs) and celebrities, small retailers have jumped on the bandwagon since. The trend took off in 2018 and 2019; while customers looked for engaging, entertaining, and social shopping experiences, retailers were looking for new ways to interact with customers and enhance their platform. Now, in the age of COVID-19, providing that social element
or most ecommerce platforms, the cost of developing the livestream feature has more than paid for itself. In 2018, Taobao generated over $15.1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) through its livestreaming sessions, recording an increase of almost 400% year-on-year, according to Alibaba Group’s news hub Alizia. “The popularity of livestreaming, preCOVID-19, is a testament to how interactivity has become a critical component of the modern-day shopper’s experience, as it continues to bring people closer to their favorite sellers and brands,” says Junjie Zhou, Chief Commercial Officer of ecommerce facilitator Shopee. Shopee launched its livestreaming feature in March last year, and saw an average of 10,000 hours of content streamed each day. Almost 1 million messages were also recorded every hour on Shopee Live Chat across Taiwan and SEA. Special campaigns such as ‘Shopee 9.9 Super Shopping Day’ and ‘Shopee 11.11 Big Sale’ recorded over 50 million and 65 million views on Shopee
The popularity of livestreaming, preCOVID-19, is a testament to how interactivity has become a critical component of the modern-day shopper’s experience, as it continues to bring people closer to their favorite sellers and brands.
Shopee Chief Commercial Officer Junjie Zhou. Photo courtesy of Shopee. Fall 2020
Jumpstart Magazine
65
