Meet the Chinese influencer set to make millions livestreaming on shopping holiday

Record ID: 1447862

  • Title: Meet the Chinese influencer set to make millions livestreaming on shopping holiday
  • Date: 12th December 2019
  • Summary: HANGZHOU, CHINA (DECEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LIVESTREAMER AND SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER, ZHANG DAYI, SAYING: "I started my (online) shop in the second half of 2014. At first, I used a form of photo and text (to interact with users), and then short videos, and then gradually used livestreaming as a tool to frequently chat with users. I think livestream
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2019 06:42
  • Keywords: China e-commerce Zhang Dayi double 12 internet celebrity live streaming media influencer
  • Location: HANGZHOU, CHINA
  • City: HANGZHOU, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA003B9O4XTZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Zhang Dayi tugs at the hem of her sweater and rubs the material as millions of viewers watch her every move ahead of China's online shopping festival "Double-12", which is equivalent to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's Single's Day.
    "Three, two, one! Let's issue out more coupons!", she says over her livestream, right before the clock hits 12 o'clock in the midnight, which immediately garners a string of "likes".
    Zhang, 32, is the face of how shopping in China is now being carried out. She is among China's most popular online celebrities, who is closely followed on social media including her 11.6 million followers on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.
    The country's retail industry has become caught up in the livestreaming e-commerce phenomenon, which sees telegenic and chatty hosts like Zhang hawk goods from dresses to bags on behalf of their own shops as well as brands such as L'Oreal, Pampers and Ahava to the world's second-largest economy's consumers.
    Zhang and her team speak to shoppers in real time, answering questions about sizes, colour and even smell while simultaneously announcing discounts, and urging viewers to quickly place orders. Sessions can last hours, especially stretching during the country's big shopping days like Nov. 11's Singles Day, and "12.12" in December.
    She ventured into e-commerce in 2014 with her own shop on Taobao, and started experimenting with live-streaming e-commerce two years later when the Alibaba site started testing out the service.
    "When I opened the shop after two to three months, I remember we sold about 7-8 million yuan ($995,000 to $1.1 million) on Single's Day and it's about seven to eight times more than our average sales at that time. So I was really surprised, and thought, 'Wow, this is what this event feels like," said Zhang.
    Zhang runs online stores, is backed by Nasdaq-listed Ruhnn Holding Ltd, and employs models to livestream products from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with Zhang herself making regular appearances which can see her model and answer questions for over six hours at a time. Over the recent Singles Day shopping event on Nov. 11, sales across her four brands hit 340 million yuan ($48.6 million).
    (Production: Irene Wang)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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