Live streaming e-commerce is booming in China after the Covid-19 pandemic
- Whether it's lipstick, fresh oranges or even rocket launches, e-commerce through live streaming has been a hit in China
“Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!”
That’s the battle call of China’s “King of Lipstick,” Li Jiaqi, the live streaming beauty product salesman who once sold 15,000 tubes of lipstick in just five minutes.
Li is one of a rising number of people hawking products on China’s e-commerce and live streaming platforms. Part salesperson and part influencer, they push everything from Louis Vuitton bags to home-grown oranges. And millions are tuning in to watch.
The trend hasn’t quite caught on in other parts of the world: Amazon’s experiments with live streaming haven’t attracted much attention, while Facebook and TikTok have only just begun.
But in a sense, the concept isn’t new. It’s an evolution of the television shopping channel, which has been tempting (usually elderly) viewers into buying jewelry and fancy knives since the 1980s.
Instead of TV, online salespeople hawk their wares on live streaming services. These platforms have grown exponentially in China, as online penetration booms and viewers search for content more exciting than what’s on the risk-averse and government-controlled TV networks.