A brand new business war is starting in the live broadcast room of "Fei Juan Snacks"

At the beginning of the new year of 2025, a unique business war quietly started in the live broadcast room of "Fei Juan Snacks". Unlike traditional live broadcasts, the anchors here do not directly promote products, but obtain advertising space through the ranking of rewards from brand merchants in the live broadcast room, thus realizing a new marketing model. In this article, we will analyze the business logic behind this phenomenon and the new trend of live broadcast e-commerce.

A brand new business war is starting in the live broadcast room.

This business war came without any warning.

At the beginning of the new year of 2025, many netizens crowded into a live broadcast room called "Fei Juan Snacks" to "eat melons", "XXX is on the list, XXX come on". In order to get on the list, major businesses are not stingy and give gifts crazily.

Interestingly, in the live broadcast room, the anchor did not sell any goods, but just ran his own store on a daily basis. Those who were urged to give gifts by netizens were not individuals, but brand merchants.

The rewards for the "number one" brother are "generous", "I have never heard of this brand, but after it ranked first, I went to his live broadcast room and placed an order", "In the live broadcast room, everyone from first to tenth on the list placed an order", "He has been selling products for ten years and no one knew about it, but now he is known to the world after he has been on the top"... Similar discussions have appeared on social platforms one after another.

This is a marketing war in which "there is no interaction between the anchor and the merchant", but a "win-win" situation has been achieved. This business war has also brought a new model to the live broadcast ecosystem, in which brands do not need to pay "slot fees" to get a spot, and anchors do not need to be responsible for the brand.

This means that the "quality control" that anchors had to guard in the past is no longer effective under this model, and anchors do not have to worry about product selection and quality, while brands (merchants) can achieve the purpose of "wide publicity" entirely through their own "strength". Of course, the third party platform also gained its own interests in this.

However, the initiative to decide how much profit the three parties will make is handed over to the majority of netizens.

However, it is not easy to replicate this model, for example, the requirements for the anchor's personal image and the merchant's products are much higher than in the past. In a sense, a new live broadcast e-commerce model that tests anchors has arrived, and it is time for industry players to take on the challenge.

01 Crazy "Fei Juan Snacks" Live Room

In the long history, there has never been such a "simple and unpretentious" business war.

Recently, a snack shop with an area of ​​only a few square meters has become popular in the live broadcast room next to a primary school in Suixi County, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province. Every time after school, the shop is crowded with primary school students, and tens of thousands of netizens "supervise" the production of snacks online.

There was no shouting of selling goods or "123 to go to the link". In the live broadcast room, the host "Fei Juan" had white papers with handwritten brand names pasted on her body. The plastic stool next to her and the ground were also covered with white papers with handwritten brand names, or with products of related brands.

If a brand name appears at the "top of the list", the staff will stick an A4 white paper with the brand name handwritten on it on "Fei Juan", while other businesses on the list can only appear in other positions.

Figure: Live broadcast of "Fei Juan Snacks" on January 8, 2025 (left) and January 9, 2025 (right)

Source: Screenshot of Douyin's "Handset Tech"

But this is also a luxurious live broadcast room.

For many consecutive days, the number of people watching the live broadcast of "Fei Juan Snacks" has always exceeded 100,000, and gifts have been constantly swiped, and the "carnival" directly filled the screen. At one point, there were even too many gifts, causing the "screen to go black".

Around 12 noon on January 8, within just 5 minutes of "Hearing Tech" entering the live broadcast room, there were more than 30 carnivals alone. At 3,000 yuan per carnival, in just 5 minutes, the live broadcast room generated 90,000 yuan in carnivals alone.

On the social platform, many netizens watched Feijuan Snacks’ live broadcast in different ways.

“XXX brand has reached the top of the list, why don’t you work harder, XXX (brand)?”, “XXX (brand) is not doing well today, go ask your boss for a budget,” “I’ve never seen a top player on this list, stand firm and don’t fall, seize this opportunity”…

Who is "Feijuan Snacks"? Why has it attracted such attention?

Relevant information shows that "Fei Juan Snacks" is a snack bar located in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, run by the owner Qiu Zhijuan (Fei Juan) and her husband Lin Jinghuan. It was originally a shoe store, but because the store is located at the school gate, Fei Juan and her husband installed a TV in the store for the children to watch, making it a "happy hometown" for the children.

Later, due to the slow business of the shoe store, Feijuan and his wife decided to transform and open a snack bar. During the transformation process, they received advice and help from many primary school students, and finally opened the "Feijuan Snacks" store, which mainly sells snacks such as turkey noodles and French fries at affordable prices and is deeply loved by primary school students.

Feijuan Snack Shop quickly became popular on the Internet due to its sincere and simple attitude. At first, netizens just went into the live broadcast room to watch the fun, "go in to see her daily turnover", "watch her weigh herself", "give the anchor some advice on how to make snacks"...

But soon, Feijuan and his wife became very popular because of their "optimism" and "money is dirt" attitude, and the number of people online in the live broadcast room remained at 30,000 to 50,000 per day. Many netizens joked that "the live broadcast room with tens of thousands of people can be closed at any time" and "they only see French fries."

As its popularity increased, the live broadcast room of Feijuan Snack Shop attracted a large number of viewers, and brand owners quickly smelled the business opportunity. However, because "Feijuan Snacks" did not consider bringing goods, the merchants had no choice but to find other ways.

The business war was initially triggered by television. After a certain brand took the initiative to give away televisions to win the highest naming rights of "Feijuan Snacks", many businesses were "envious but failed" and had to find other ways.

Afterwards, a certain brand gained "crazy praise" from netizens by giving gifts, "Support XXX and let Fei Juan make money! The loss on the little brother and sister can be earned back from the merchant!"

As more and more netizens are following suit, brand merchants quickly seized the opportunity, rushed into the live broadcast room and gave out gifts, striving to become the "number one" in order to obtain advertising space in the store.

A carnival in the live broadcast room thus began.

02 Live broadcast starts in 3.0 mode

Obviously, this may become a brand new live broadcast mode.

What is different from previous live streaming sales models is that this model separates the internet celebrity and the brand, and the sales and live streaming are separated. “I will be my internet celebrity and you sell your products.”

Under the new model, the anchor does not actively promote products, does not charge slot fees, does not participate in product selection, and is not responsible for the products. During the entire live broadcast process, the anchor does not introduce or recommend any products, and the initiative to purchase is completely returned to the hands of consumers.

The only way for brands to attract consumers is to get on the "list". Lists are obtained through strength and can obtain good ROI (return on investment).

According to unverified reports, after a certain brand topped the list by giving out "gifts" worth 150,000 yuan, its sales on that day exceeded 1 million yuan.

Although the news cannot be verified, many brands have been activated by "occupying the list". For example, a milk brand was not well-known in the past and its market was limited to the region. After occupying the top spot in the live broadcast room, it quickly became widely known, and many netizens entered the brand's live broadcast room to place orders directly.

Many netizens even called on brands they had supported in the past to rush to the top of the list, saying, "It will be too late if you don't come now."

Another netizen suggested a solution for the brand online: "Go back and apply for a budget of XX million to get on the list."

Picture: Discussion on the Internet about "Feijuan Snacks Ranking"

Source: Internet

"This model has completely revolutionized the traditional model of live broadcasting." In response to the phenomenon of the "Feijuan Snacks" live broadcast room, many industry insiders joked that live broadcasting has ushered in the 3.0 era.

In the view of Yago, an e-commerce practitioner, the live broadcast model of Feijuan Snacks has solved many problems of the past live broadcast model. Under this model, the anchor no longer needs to invest a lot of money to "select products and operate", bear the pressure of inventory and funds, and bear no risk of product quality.

"In the past, anchors and businesses took the initiative to invest a lot of costs to acquire customers, but now, it is netizens who 'pursue' them." Yago said that this model not only solves the problem of "high operating costs" in the live broadcast industry in the past, but also solves the "product quality problem" that caused many anchors to "collapse".

As for the brand, there is no need to bear the "slot fee" or consider the risks brought about by the anchor's "collapse".

"After all, in the past many brand houses invested heavily in a certain internet celebrity, and the losses caused by the collapse of the internet celebrity's reputation were immeasurable." Yago pointed out that under the "Feijuan Snacks" live broadcast model, the brand perfectly avoided the risk of "collapse".

"On the other hand, in this model, there is no commission for the anchor, and the proceeds (from the gifts) go directly to the anchor and the platform, so the platform also earns more. In fact, the platform is also the beneficiary." In Yago's view, this is actually a "win-win-win" situation.

03 A model that is difficult to replicate

However, Yago said that this model is not easy to replicate. Compared with the traditional live streaming model, it poses great challenges to both the anchor and the merchant.

In Yago’s opinion, the reason why “Feijuan Snacks” has gained such high popularity is not “a temporary trend”, but the “sincerity and kindness” accumulated over the past years, allowing netizens to see the “beauty in the ordinary”.

"Under this model, netizens have the power to judge anchors and businesses, and the challenge to the anchors' personal abilities (image) is much greater than in the past," said Yago.

As we previously stated in the article "In 2025, it's time for internet celebrities to follow new rules of the game", as netizens' understanding of the live broadcast ecosystem increases, the initiative of the live broadcast ecosystem is already in the hands of netizens.

"The old methods of selling goods by shouting and even 'sensationalizing' by anchors will definitely not work in this model," Yago said. "Who to support and where to spend money are decided by netizens, not by merchants or anchors. Netizens today no longer care about fake, eye-catching things."

Picture: Discussion on the Internet about "Feijuan Snacks Ranking"

Source: Internet

In addition, Yago also pointed out that in addition to challenging the personal abilities of the anchor, this model is also a huge challenge for businesses.

"The quality issue has been transferred to the merchants, which requires them to not only have the financial resources, but also be able to withstand challenges in terms of quality." Yago said that in the past, when there were problems with the goods, the anchors would to a certain extent transfer some of the pressure, but under this model, the responsibility for quality lies entirely with the merchants.

Of course, as an important carrier of the entire live broadcast ecosystem, the platform will play a more crucial role in it.

"The platform's regulatory and guiding role may also need to be adjusted for this model." Yago said bluntly, "especially the control of merchants. Part of the pressure has been transferred from the anchor to the platform."

Of course, at present, how long will "Feijuan Snacks" be popular, where will the next "Feijuan Snacks" be, and when will it appear, these questions are still unknown.

But one indisputable fact is that the netizens who watched the live broadcast of "Feijuan Snacks" successfully ushered in a 3.0 era of live broadcast. In this era, the initiative is handed over to the netizens themselves.

(Yago is a pseudonym in this article.)

Text | Edited by Rao Yan | Arya