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Alibaba courts CEOs to start live-streaming on Taobao during 618 shopping festival

  • After the live-streaming success seen by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun and a digital avatar of JD.com founder Richard Liu, Alibaba wants more CEOs to do the same on Taobao

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A Taobao live-streaming session featuring a virtual idol promoting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on February 10, 2022. Photo: Reuters
Ann Caoin Shanghai
Alibaba Group Holding is pushing CEOs to live-stream on its domestic e-commerce platform Taobao, as the tech giant ramps up efforts to win back consumers from rising rival Pinduoduo and other budget-focused platforms during China’s midyear shopping festival.

Taobao launched a new live-streaming service on Wednesday that features business executives looking to promote their companies through a format that has become a staple of online shopping in China.

Taobao Live is providing CEOs with a “one-stop service” that covers all stages of production during a live stream – from product management to operations.

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The appearance of big-name entrepreneurs on live-streaming platforms has been a hot topic in China recently. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun recently held two live-streaming sessions in the past two months, and e-commerce firm JD.com has been hosting live streams of an AI-powered digital avatar of its founder Richard Liu since April.
Beauty blogger Austin Li Jiaqi, seen live-streaming on Taobao on October 26, 2018, has become one of the biggest stars in the live-streaming e-commerce space. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Beauty blogger Austin Li Jiaqi, seen live-streaming on Taobao on October 26, 2018, has become one of the biggest stars in the live-streaming e-commerce space. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Taobao first launched similar services catering to celebrities and social media influencers in February. It underscores efforts in recent months from Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, to find new growth opportunities in a domestic market where it faces heightened competition from PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok that has been pushing into e-commerce.
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In May, Alibaba announced a makeover for the Taobao website in what was the platform’s biggest update in seven years. It simplifies the site’s layout with smoother performance as the company seeks to offer a better shopping experience. It also expanded web access of its live streams to include all sessions.

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