Short video platform Kuaishou unveils ambitious new e-commerce targets amid live-streaming boom

Kuaishou plans to incubate 100,000 businesses and help them achieve US$146,000 in annual sales within the year

It also wants to groom 10,000 live-streamers and host over 1 million e-commerce live-streaming sessions during this period

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Kuaishou plans to incubate 100,000 businesses and help them achieve 1 million yuan (US$146,000) in annual sales. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 6:15am, 1 Sep 2020Updated: 6:15am, 1 Sep 2020

Chinese short video app Kuaishou on Saturday launched an ambitious new plan to expand its e-commerce presence, as live-streaming becomes a major sales channel in China.

In the coming year, Kuaishou plans to incubate 100,000 businesses and help them achieve 1 million yuan (US$146,000) in annual sales, the Tencent Holdings-backed platform said in a press release.

The Beijing-based company is also going to build over 100 industrial bases around the country, groom 10,000 live-streamers and host over 1 million e-commerce live-streaming sessions during this period, it added.

China’s live-streaming e-commerce market was estimated to be worth 433.9 billion yuan in 2019, and is expected to reach 961 billion yuan this year amid a surge in online activity during the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from market research firm iiMedia Research.

There were over 10 million e-commerce live-streaming sessions in China attracting more than 50 billion views in just the first half of the year, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Kuaishou first attempted to squeeze into the already competitive e-commerce market in China two years ago with the launch of Kuaishou Shop, a sales platform within the short video app. Currently, there are over 100 million daily active users for its e-commerce services, with those from first and second-tier cities accounting for 45 per cent, the company said in the press release.

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