The live streaming industry has seen a boost in China, according to South China Morning Post. A report from Deloitte considers that the live streaming market in China will be worth USD 4.4 billion in 2018, with viewers totalling 456 million soon.
In a bid to help merchants leverage this trend to their advantage, Taobao and JD.com have launched live streaming platforms that let store owners and brands market their products themselves via live content or partner with influencers to do this.
Live streaming in the ecommerce industry has become similar to home shopping channels in the US, except you can engage with the merchants and they can answer any questions you have live.
In Europe and the US, live streaming and ecommerce are popular, but their union isn’t something that has seen a demand. For example, Amazon doesn’t support live streaming. Outside of China, or rather, outside of Asia, there aren’t any prominent marketplace apps that also support live streaming to help customers better market their products.
According to Wan, live streaming is seen as entertainment in Europe and the US. In China, however, people tend to rely on ecosystems created by Tencent and Alibaba, which brings together payments, messaging, ecommerce, and entertainment.
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