admin
Ms G
Last month I received a box from China. In it were some stuff I ordered online during the Double 11 sales and three pairs of shoes my mom got for me from lifestream shopping apps. They are pretty and inexpensive, each about 5 US dollars. My mom was so proud, “Did you try the shoes I got you? Kuaishou (a video-sharing app) sells some very good stuff. I’m literally addicted to it!”
The shoes are fine. But what makes me really happy is my mom, in her 60s, was able to have fun online thanks to the boom of e-commerce, especially livestream shopping, in China.
Livestream shopping began its popularity in the past two or three years and became the rage under the Covid-19 lockdown.
On social media channels and online shopping malls, virtual shop owners and charismatic anchors and influencers promote products to realtime viewers. They try the products themselves, share their personal impressions, and respond to the inquiries and comments left by the viewers. They can also give their fans special offers and flash deals in ream time. And viewers can click to send their favourite stars virtual “gifts”. It may look similar to TV shopping that was quite popular decades ago. But it is more modern, mobile and interactive, a combination of entertainment and commerce.
With the top influencers making as many as millions of dollars of year, many are racing to get in. It is estimated that on China’s online marketplace Taobao, everyday about 2,000 more try their hands. In the first half of 2020, 400 000 active livestreamers conducted 10 million shopping sessions online. Some analysts put the value of the industry of 66 billion USD.
While it all sounds fun and glamorous, surviving in this fiercely competitive industry is actually very hard. The hours can be gruelling. Hosts usually have to spend hours a day speaking to the camera and burn the midnight oil reading up on products to sell, leaving little time for themselves. Their daily schedule is nothing more than eating, sleeping and working.
Austin Li, the biggest of the stars dubbed the lipstick king, once tried on too many lipsticks in one session that he developed swollen and chapped lips. Some hosts say if they take a break for only three days, their accounts on the platform will be downgraded.
So they cannot afford to take a short vacation. Even a doctor’s appointment seems difficult to manage. For more than eight hours a day, six days a week, they sit in front of a computer, shouting at the top of their lungs. The physical and emotional drain is enormous.
But making it in any business is not easy. If they are firmly established in the industry, the paycheck can be much bigger than in many other professions. This is the law of the Internet age. As long as you seize the opportunity and give it all you have, the possibilities are simply limitless.
Online Reporter