[Correspondent Diary] Live Streaming That Has Also Absorbed the Luxury Market

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Sunmi Park] #. Mr. Guo, an office worker living in Beijing, found it difficult to visit department stores due to COVID-19, so he mainly purchases clothes through online shopping. Products sold online had varying size charts depending on the brand, making it one of the difficult items to buy. However, products introduced through live streaming became easier to purchase because real-time chat communication is possible and the host shows how the clothes fit and move. He tends to watch live streams featuring famous celebrities or Wanghong (influencers) like Li Ziqi, as products sold through these streams often become trendy items.

According to Chinese market research firm iMedia Research, the Chinese live streaming market was valued at 433.8 billion yuan (about 61.3 billion dollars) last year. This year, it is expected to double in size, showing explosive growth. The number of live streaming platform users currently stands at 560 million, an increase of more than 160 million since the end of 2018. Especially with the spread of COVID-19 and the rise of the untact (contactless) trend, online shopping through live streaming has rapidly emerged as a trend across all generations in China.

As shopping through live streaming rapidly rises, the number of people making it their profession is also increasing. This is why the China Employment Education and Technology Guidance Center, a body commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resources, recently included product sellers using live streaming as a new occupation.

Even the high-end luxury industry, known for its pride, is rushing to start sales through live streaming to not miss out on the Chinese market.

Luxury jewelry brand Tiffany attempted to sell $3,500 necklaces through live streaming hosted by Wanghong and quickly sold 300 units. The Tiffany broadcast, hosted by Wanghong 'Amanda Xie,' who has 414,000 followers, along with two other Wanghong colleagues, was watched by over 5,000 female customers. Mainly wealthy women from small and medium-sized cities, where Tiffany stores are not easily accessible, made purchases. Currently, many luxury brands such as Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Chanel are actively engaging in sales through live streaming services in China.

According to Jefferies, Chinese consumers drove 80% of the growth in the global luxury product sales market, which was valued at 281 billion euros last year, and accounted for 40% of total sales. To not miss the core luxury market of China, it has become important to immerse oneself in live streaming services, which have already become a shopping trend.

Even automobiles, a representative item that consumers typically purchase after carefully visiting dealers, have penetrated the Chinese live streaming service. According to data from Dica, a Chinese automobile specialist app, and the Automobile Sellers Association, the number of live streaming events related to car sales in March increased 15 times compared to January. During the same period, the number of viewers watching live streams also increased sixfold. After the COVID-19 outbreak, many offline sales points were closed and customers became reluctant to have face-to-face contact, making live streaming an important promotional channel in various fields such as luxury goods, automobiles, and real estate.

Meanwhile, as China's live streaming market rapidly expands, government authorities are tightening regulations. Last week, the Cyberspace Administration of China punished 10 representative live streaming apps in China, including ByteDance's Xigua, Tencent's Bilibili, Huya, and Douyu, for containing obscene and inappropriate content. Some live streaming hosts were also included among those punished.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.