Alibaba courts CEOs to start live-streaming on Taobao during 618 shopping festival

Alibaba Group Holding is pushing CEOs to live-stream on its domestic e-commerce platform Taobao, as the tech giant ramps up efforts to win back consumers from rising rival Pinduoduo and other budget-focused platforms during China's midyear shopping festival.

Taobao launched a new live-streaming service on Wednesday that features business executives looking to promote their companies through a format that has become a staple of online shopping in China.

Taobao Live is providing CEOs with a "one-stop service" that covers all stages of production during a live stream - from product management to operations.

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The appearance of big-name entrepreneurs on live-streaming platforms has been a hot topic in China recently. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun recently held two live-streaming sessions in the past two months, and e-commerce firm JD.com has been hosting live streams of an AI-powered digital avatar of its founder Richard Liu since April.

Beauty blogger Austin Li Jiaqi, seen live-streaming on Taobao on October 26, 2018, has become one of the biggest stars in the live-streaming e-commerce space. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images alt=Beauty blogger Austin Li Jiaqi, seen live-streaming on Taobao on October 26, 2018, has become one of the biggest stars in the live-streaming e-commerce space. Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images>

Taobao first launched similar services catering to celebrities and social media influencers in February. It underscores efforts in recent months from Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, to find new growth opportunities in a domestic market where it faces heightened competition from PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and ByteDance's Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok that has been pushing into e-commerce.

In May, Alibaba announced a makeover for the Taobao website in what was the platform's biggest update in seven years. It simplifies the site's layout with smoother performance as the company seeks to offer a better shopping experience. It also expanded web access of its live streams to include all sessions.

Alibaba is in the middle of its latest sales campaign for the 618 shopping festival - China's second-largest shopping extravaganza behind Singles' Day - in which major e-commerce players compete fiercely through steep discounts, cash subsidies and colourful marketing campaigns. Ostensibly a sales event meant for June 18, Alibaba kicked off sales this year on May 20 and will run them through June 20.

Taobao Live has so far coaxed nearly 100 celebrities to start live-streaming for the 618 event, with most using the new one-stop service, according to data from Taobao and Tmall Group.

From May 20 to May 31, 38 live-streaming rooms on the platform - including one featuring China's top beauty influencer Austin Li Jiaqi - each achieved a turnover of more than 100 million yuan (US$13.8 million), which the company said is a record for the period.

Half of these rooms were hosted by influencers such as Li, while the other half came from brands like Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi.

For many, live-streaming rooms have become the new shopping channel, with consumers using them to learn more about products they want before hitting the buy button.

Michelle Feng, a woman living in the eastern city of Suzhou, said a purchase she made during Li's session was the first she ever made through a live stream. Feng spent more than 100 yuan on cosmetics after accidentally stumbling upon the live stream this week.

"It didn't take me long to make the order, because I believe in the products that he recommended," Feng said. "Li himself is a brand."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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