Angelababy Struggles with First Douyin Livestream

On July 18, actress and influencer Angelababy held her first livestream on Douyin, becoming the latest star to hop on the ecommerce livestreaming trend in China. But has her appearance also coincided with waning interest in such stunts?

Angelababy’s 5-hour vending stream reached 26 million viewers and hit 12.15 million RMB (about 1.8 million USD) in sales. Those may seem like huge numbers, but considering the superstar’s 40 million Douyin followers and 103 million Weibo followers, the results were viewed as underwhelming.

Livestream vending in China is the marketing method of the moment, in which online celebrities sell partnered products and offer special deals. Amid China’s recovering economy, livestreaming has gone from novel marketing trend to necessity. Quarantines shut out China’s already dwindling bricks and mortar retail sector and livestream numbers went up as people scrolled on their phones in bed. 

Hit Read More at the bottom for a Chinese livestream market then and now overview.

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