China’s e-commerce livestream industry has witnessed exponential growth over the past three years, and among the opponents, Yowant, Dongfang Zhenxuan and Jiaoge Pengyou have all risen to prominence in the arena.
These three companies have infused livestream with online buying and selling while targeting different areas with varying marketing strategies. For example, Dongfang Zhenxuantransformed from the former Chinese private tutoring giant New Oriental, focusing on agricultural product promotion. By merging English courses and Chinese poetry on top of the entertaining side of online shopping, Dongfang Zhenxuan swept the country for its “knowledge-based” livestream style.
In comparison to Yowant, Jiaoge Pengyou also endorse celebrities as livestream hosts in parallel with internet celebrities, like Luo Yonghao and Li Dan. Luo Yonghao achieved a record-high sales performance on Douyin garnering more than 480 million views during the 3-hour-long livestream in 2020. Jiaoge Pengyou provides a wide array of online shopping options across 14 categories, with liquor beverages, beauty products, houseware items, fresh fruit and luxury jewellery available to purchase. They are also the first company to initiate 24/7 livestreaming services.
At the moment, Yowant has become the only company to have expanded its foothold to all the livestream channels at home, covering Douyin (Chinese TikTok), Kuaishou (short video-sharing platform) and Taobao (China’s e-commerce giant).
All three company’s social media accounts have taken the lion’s share of the livestream marketplace and are equipped with unique competencies. To further chart its expansion, they are now eyeing growth across different platforms as well as setting up new channels delivering more imported products. Dongfang Zhenxuan is accelerating penetration into travel and tapping into the rebound tourism industry and Jiaoge Pengyou is setting up more channels in fashion apparel. With China’s fast-growing e-commerce platforms, recovering economy and immense user base, the livestream industry possesses a promising outlook.
