More than 90 Live Streamers Sell from The Fair Floor
Walking the aisles of China Toy & Hobby last week, there was one constant feature–live streamers selling products from booths. Fair organizers estimated that more than 90 influencers and live streamers were invited to the fair, and, wow, were they going at it.
This is no surprise, as the streaming e-commerce market in China last year topped $350 billion dollars according to Statista, and executives who commented said that streaming live from the show floor added both drama and appeal. The market is projected to grow to $1 trillion by 2026. The market is currently led by Alibaba, which operates the Taobao and Tmall platforms, followed closely by Douyin (Tik Tok in China), Red Note, and JD.com. More are getting into the business every month.
Streamers ranged from one-to-two person operations to full-on production studios set up in various booths. Welcomed in by the exhibitors, the streamers were going non-stop from the time the show opened till it closed down, all three days of the show. Rapid-fire product demos, special streaming deals, and abundant energy characterized all the streamers.
Looking at all of this objectively, one can’t say that the content was all that sophisticated. Waving products in front of a camera, no real time spent on any one product, and the limitations of the screens certainly weren’t contributing to the success. However, the amazing technology, streaming as an established shopping platform and the sheer enthusiasm of the presentations likely got folks to open their pockets…even at 9:30 in the morning.
And, while we might cavil about production values, the bigger operations could see exactly what was getting viewers to click. Think of it as a QVC studio that can, in some cases, fit into a briefcase.
The secret to success in China is cultural. With 1.1 billion Chinese on the Internet, the hunger for content is enormous, and, it seems, nearly insatiable. When content creators, also known as KOLs (key opinion leaders) go live, they have an audience ready to be entertained and buy…day or night.
Streaming e-commerce has been around in China since 2016, but it really began to hit its stride in 2018 and 2019…just before the pandemic, which is when it really took off. The Alibaba platforms alone have upwards of 2 million content creators, currently, though not all of them are engaged in direct sales. There are strict rules for these content creators established by China’s Ministry of Commerce with regard to everything from safety of information to how hosts should dress. Even so, more and more would-be salespeople are jumping in every month
Will this kind of selling come the U.S.? Possibly. Eventually. But likely not for a while. We would need a full technology upgrade, order and fulfillment operations, and a large enough consumer base to make the investment worthwhile. Not to mention a compensation strategy for the content creators.
We’ll see how that develops, but in the meantime, enjoy these pictures of earnest e-streamers in action on the floor.
