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Singles’ Day: Live-streaming e-commerce draws in viewers using giant pancakes, VR gaming and other gimmicks

  • Sellers use live streaming to sell everything from bags of sweet potatoes to Cartier jewellery during annual Chinese shopping festival, the largest of its kind
  • Live-streaming e-commerce sees a burst of activity this year after getting a boost from the Covid-19 pandemic

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Shopping through live streaming has surged in China this year, and the trend continued through Singles’ Day, the world’s largest shopping festival. Photo: EPA-EFE
Masha Borak

Live-streaming e-commerce has finally stepped into the spotlight this year during China’s Singles’ Day, the world’s largest shopping festival that takes place annually on November 11. Consumers have been increasingly turning to live streaming to see demonstrations of products during the Covid-19 pandemic, which limited shoppers’ ability to check out products in person.

In one live-streaming channel during the festival, a man selling chopping knives showed himself sharpening the cutlery in what looks like an old blacksmith workshop. In another channel, a young woman displaying a clothing line changed outfits on camera, briefly appearing in her underwear before her virtual audience.

Unique personalities and visuals are just some of the aids used to draw in live-streamers and get them to part with their hard-earned money. But the rapid rise in the popularity of the medium has meant that there are not enough hosts to hawk everything that needs hawking.

“There is a huge shortage of anchors and live-streaming talents in China in general right now,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of the social media agency Alarice and marketing training company ChoZan.

However, this did not stop live streaming from becoming a pivotal channel this Singles’ Day as hosts peddled everything from bags of sweet potatoes to 190 million-yuan (US$28.3 million) Cartier necklaces.

A blacksmith sharpening a chopping knife, a giant pancake maker, and elderly women making quilts were some of the live-streaming offerings during this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival. Picture: Screenshots of Taobao Live
A blacksmith sharpening a chopping knife, a giant pancake maker, and elderly women making quilts were some of the live-streaming offerings during this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival. Picture: Screenshots of Taobao Live
When Alibaba, the parent company of the South China Morning Post, kicked off presales for its platforms on October 21, Taobao Live saw transactions hit US$7.5 billion in the first 30 minutes. The platform said the live-streaming sales reflected a 400 per cent increase from a year ago.

Keeping shoppers glued to their screens requires a lot of creativity. Stay-at-home shoppers now look to live-streaming for both product recommendations and entertainment, increasing the pressure for hosts to find new ways to draw in viewers.

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