Two anchors sell products in a livestreaming session hosted by e-commerce company Be Friends in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province. Photo: Wang Jiarong

"One, two, three, post the product links!"

In a dimly lit, cramped room, a team of 10 members is fully immersed in a livestreaming session. In celebration of the "618" consumption carnival, two hosts, adorned in delicate makeup, are energetically promoting and selling delicious food recommended by their company.

This small room, located in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, is a microcosm of the country's booming livestreaming e-commerce industry, which is revolutionizing the way consumers shop.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese retailers have rushed to hire or develop in-house livestreaming anchors to sell products. Some individuals, such as Li Jiaqi and Huang Wei, also known as Viya, have become online celebrities and overnight millionaires.

But the dramatic fall of live-streaming stars including Li Jiaqi and Viya cast a cloud over one of the country's most dynamic and burgeoning sectors. Some industry insiders have even been doubting the future of the live-streaming market.

However, during this year's 618 shopping spree, data from Syntun, a leading provider of big data solutions for e-commerce in China, showed that the cumulative sales volume of live-streaming e-commerce platforms reached 206.8 billion yuan, marking year-on-year growth of over 12 percent. Moreover, unlike in the past where consumers focused on live-streaming stars, many consumers are now paying more attention to the products they want.

During the first four hours of Taobao's livestreaming session before 618 this year, 67 store live streams had sales exceeding tens of millions of yuan. Data from Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) also shows that the gross merchandise volume of store live streams during 618 was five times that of the same period last year.

In a recent visit to Jiaoge Pengyou ("Be Friends" in English), a KOL live-streaming commerce platform based in Hangzhou, developed by Chinese entrepreneur and internet celebrity Luo Yonghao, the Global Times found out that in order to break away from the dependence on live-streaming stars and avoid risks, major companies are actively reshaping the live-streaming ecosystem and introducing a more creative, precise and efficient way for brands to leverage live-streaming. The aim is to create their own live-stream content that broadcasts directly on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com or social media platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou.

"In recent years, we have made many attempts to avoid relying on famous influencers and consumers overlooking the products themselves," Shen Qing, a staff member from the company Be Friends, told the Global Times.

Despite the fact that the company began to move away from the influence of Luo, the total number of orders across all platforms has exceeded 12 million this year, marking year-on-year growth of over 20 percent. Additionally, over 60 livestreaming channels under the company have welcomed more than 1.3 million followers, according to Shen.

Shen quit his job at a Shanghai gaming company and chose to join the livestreaming industry in Hangzhou in 2022. Hangzhou, the headquarters of Be Friends, is known as the city of livestreaming e-commerce. Since the 1990s, Hangzhou's e-commerce industry has been at the forefront of the sector's development.

Two anchors sell products in a livestreaming session hosted by e-commerce company Be Friends in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province. Photo: Wang Jiarong

The latest data from the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce in February 2023 shows that Hangzhou currently leads the nation in e-commerce platform transaction volume and third-party payment capabilities, hosting 128 e-commerce platforms and over 12.5 million online stores. According to official statistics, one in every 244 people in Hangzhou is a live-streaming host; and one in every 12 people is engaged in the live-streaming industry.

Data estimates in Livestreaming Jobs Report, which was published by Renmin University of China in February, also shows that for every 100 million increase in online transaction volumes in livestreaming e-commerce, about 1,100 new jobs are created. The livestreaming e-commerce industry has given rise to numerous new professions, such as livestream hosts, co-hosts, and product selection experts, injecting new vitality into China's job market. Also, numerous employment opportunities have been generated by upstream and downstream industries.

"This trend underscores the transformative potential of livestreaming e-commerce in shaping the future landscape of the retail industry in China, making it an indispensable tool for economic growth," said Shen.

Chinese industry insiders noted that the continuous development of the livestreaming e-commerce industry and the emergence of new technologies have brought more possibilities for the industry. Livestreaming is no longer relying on a few top anchors, and businesses and small and medium-sized anchors may have more opportunities. Professionalization and diversification will become important trends in live-streaming content.

Lin Keer, Zhao Jingyi, Li Shuang, Xu Yuyun, Wang Jiarong, Zhang Yulin from the Communication University of China contributed to this story.