With sales exceeding 300 million yuan a day, does Douyin have a new queen?

Live streaming with goods may be a topic that can never be exhausted. With the rise of the live streaming industry, celebrities have also started live streaming with goods, making the live streaming industry crowded. Now let’s take a look at the new queen of Douyin.

In the crowded live streaming e-commerce market, a new top streamer has emerged.

On December 19, Chen Lan, known as the boss of the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles, started her first live broadcast on Douyin. According to Chanmama data, Chen Lan's sales on that day reached 250 million to 500 million yuan, and during the live broadcast, the assistant announced that the sales had exceeded 300 million yuan.

Many celebrities assisted Xiang Tai in her live broadcast

"Sister Chen Lan, I heard that you are going to do a live broadcast, right? If so, I will move a small stool and sit there every day to watch your live broadcast." In the video, celebrity Gong Li turned into a little fan girl and said that she would wait for Chen Lan's live broadcast.

Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan, Huang Xiaoming and many other celebrities appeared on Xiang Tai's Douyin account, cheering for her Douyin debut. Many netizens also joked in the comment section: "The products in Xiang Tai's live broadcast room are definitely not fake, and the suppliers dare not cheat Xiang Tai."

Chen Lan is not the first and will not be the last to switch from the big screen to the small screen.

In the cold winter of the film and television industry, celebrities have also begun to survive in a "downward" way. Live streaming can not only increase exposure, but also is the fastest and most efficient way to monetize traffic. Cecilia Cheung, Wang Zulan, Jia Nailiang and other celebrities have entered the live streaming track, holding similar "scripts" and working hard to sell goods. Even talk show actors like Li Dan have started live streaming on Taobao to sell goods, transforming their identities into anchors.

With the participation of many celebrities and professional organizations, the "celebrity live streaming" that had been caught in public opinion has gradually been on the right track in the past two years. Xiang Tai, who has her own traffic, has not only targeted live streaming, but also the entire live streaming e-commerce industry, which has a broader "money prospect" behind it.

1. "Shouting" style live broadcast, bringing in over 300 million yuan in sales

On Douyin, the videos of Jet Li, Gong Li and Carina Lau supporting Xiang Tai received 590,000, 710,000 and 280,000 likes respectively. The support of so many superstars attracted a lot of traffic for Xiang Tai.

Xiang Taihe starts broadcasting benefits

At 11:04 on December 19, Xiang Tai started the show 4 minutes later than the scheduled time. She was wearing a pink plush coat and smiling. She immediately offered real money promotion benefits, giving away an iPhone every minute, and randomly selected a few lucky viewers to be "koi" and give away more gifts. With multiple benefits as a hook, the number of online viewers quickly reached 100,000+.

A group of assistants introduced the welfare products in the live broadcast room by shouting in rhythm, while Xiang Tai herself announced the final welfare price accompanied by music.

Assistant broadcaster: "Classic milk-flavored cookies, six boxes for less than thirty-five?"

Mrs. Xiang: “9.9.”

Assistant Broadcaster: "Link up!"

There is no brand introduction, efficacy description or usage experience, only simple and stimulating shouting and preferential prices. It only takes ten seconds for a preferential product to be put on the shelves, which is faster than the live broadcast rooms of Li Jiaqi, "Oriental Selection" and "Make Friends". However, in the process of reporting the preferential price, Xiang Tai looked to the side from time to time, and many netizens speculated that she did not remember the price and was secretly looking at the teleprompter.

However, "E-commerce Online" found through observation that many products claiming to be welfare products are actually not discounted: the Laneige lip mask, for which Xiang Tai said "I will buy a few later", is priced at 8.8 yuan in the live broadcast room. Although the link has been sold out, the same product can be found on sale in the same store, and the daily price is also 8.8 yuan.

The "welfare fund" is also the daily price.

After quickly finishing the "benefits", Xiang Tai began to introduce the products she was selling, but compared to other anchors, Xiang Tai was more like a "tool man". The assistants supported the entire live broadcast room, and there was a slight element of "acting" when introducing the products she was selling.

When introducing the super laundry detergent, the assistants performed in the live broadcast room how to quickly clean the stains. Xiang Tai watched with a smile on her face and occasionally exclaimed "Wow". The brand said that the price of 18 kilograms of laundry detergent is 120 yuan. Xiang Tai directly said "98." Many assistants also shouted to post the link. Then Xiang Tai said domineeringly in the live broadcast room, "I don't care if she agrees or not. At most, I will (spend money) to post it!"

After that, most of the time, it was the assistant broadcasters and the brand owners who introduced and performed the products in the live broadcast room, and Xiang Tai only interjected a few words from time to time. When promoting the mattress, Xiang Tai also made fun of Wang Xiaofei's mattress incident some time ago, saying, "It doesn't matter who you buy it and give it to, and don't take it back even if you get divorced, be generous!"

In Xiang Tai's six live broadcasts on December 19, the number of SKUs sold reached 129, and she also took the full-category route: daily necessities such as laundry detergent and tissue paper and beauty and skin care products such as facial masks and powder were the most, followed by various types of food and beverages, health products and small household appliances.

Category share of Xiang Tai’s live broadcast room, data source: Chan Mama

Although her role is more like a "tool man", the popularity of Xiang Tai's first live broadcast has far exceeded that of most people. On December 19, Xiang Tai broadcast a total of 6 live broadcasts, and the total time of all the broadcasts reached nine and a half hours. In the middle of the live broadcast, Xiang Tai's assistant would announce the good news every time the sales exceeded 100 million. By the end of the live broadcast, Xiang Tai's assistant said that the sales had reached 300 million yuan. According to Chan Mama data, the conversion rate of Xiang Tai's live broadcast room is as high as 4.9%.

In comparison, the frequently discussed live broadcast rooms of "Oriental Selection" and "Make Friends" had sales of 10 million to 25 million yuan and 5 million to 7.5 million yuan respectively, and the sales conversion rates of the two live broadcast rooms were only 3.31% and 2.19%.

2. Xiang Tai's live broadcast, "self-production and self-sales"

In the past two years, many celebrities have engaged in live streaming to sell goods, moving from the big screen to the small screen.

Live streaming sales by celebrities such as Cecilia Cheung, Wong Cho Lam, and Jia Nailiang are already in full swing. Netizens once complained that celebrities were "lowering their own status" by selling goods through live streaming, but now it seems that many of them are rejuvenating their careers through live streaming sales.

Cecilia Cheung and Ronald Wong’s live streaming

From many aspects, the reasons why Xiang Tai sells goods through live streaming are similar to those of many celebrities who enter the live streaming room, but they are also different:

First, in the cold winter of the film and television industry in recent years, celebrity artists have also begun to survive in a "downward" way. Live broadcasts and short videos can increase exposure, and live broadcasts with goods are the fastest and most efficient way to monetize traffic.

Although Xiang Tai herself is not a celebrity artist in the traditional sense, she is certified as the vice chairman of Hong Kong China Star on Douyin. In the 2022 interim financial report of China Star Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Star), Chen Mingying (Xiang Tai Chen Lan's original name) also appeared as an executive director and member of the remuneration committee.

China Star, a listed group founded by Xiang Huaqiang, used to be mainly engaged in film and television production and distribution as well as artist management in Hong Kong. It created films such as "Slimming Men and Women" and "Big Guys, Big Wisdom", which also gave Xiang Huaqiang and Xiang Tai strong connections in the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles.

After several transformations, China Star's current main business layout is in real estate, catering and other investments. The film business only occupies a small part, but it is still not to be ignored.

In the 2019 annual report, China Star stated that the group was preparing a new movie "Dream Chasing Men and Women" and a TV series of about 6 episodes. However, in the 2022 interim financial report, China Star revealed that it has not started producing any new movies or TV series since the epidemic in 2020. The revenue of the film part mainly comes from previously released movies and TV series.

China Star's 2021 financial report shows a loss of HK$156 million

At the same time, due to the epidemic, many tourism and catering-related industries of China Star in Hong Kong and Macau have also been affected. In 2021, China Star lost HK$156 million, an increase of 42% from 2020.

Faced with continuous losses, Xiang Tai, as the vice chairman of China Star, had to take action herself. She had previously appeared on variety shows with her son Xiang Zuo and husband Xiang Huaqiang, and this time she even went on a live broadcast to sell goods to "make money to support her family."

Second, live streaming e-commerce has become a way for individuals to participate in e-commerce monetization with the lowest threshold. According to the data from China Internet Network Information Center, the GMV of live streaming e-commerce in 2021 was 2.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 83.77% over 2020, far higher than the overall growth rate of e-commerce. In the rapidly growing and huge live streaming e-commerce market, there is still no top anchor for celebrity live streaming.

Xiang Tai had planned to sell goods through live streaming long ago, and her sights were not just on selling goods through live streaming herself, but on the entire live streaming sales field.

As early as 2017, China Star had cooperated with Zhou Hongyi's Huajiao Live to hold a competition to select anchors. The volume was not large, but Xiang Tai was exposed to the traffic wealth code brought by live broadcast. Xiang Tai joined Douyin in October this year. The first video was leaving Taipei and heading to the mainland. Then on October 22, she came to Hangzhou.

Xiang Tai’s MCN agency on Douyin is Huotui Culture. Behind this MCN agency is Hangzhou Huotui Culture Media Co., Ltd., which was established on October 24 this year.

Xiang Tai said in the video that her new company is MCN

Qichacha shows that Wang Yuezhen is the major shareholder and actual controller of Hangzhou Huotui Culture Media Co., Ltd., and the equity shows that he has no relationship with Xiang Tai, Xiang Huaqiang and others. However, in a video released on December 12, Xiang Tai talked about her three entrepreneurial ventures. The first was film, the second was real estate, and the third was the MCN agency she recently founded. "Nowadays, young people are all shopping or showing themselves online, which is actually no different from making movies. By setting up a company, I can help some ordinary people or some Hong Kong and Taiwan artists to live broadcast and bring goods."

On BOSS Direct, Hangzhou Huotui Culture Co., Ltd. has also recently been recruiting for positions such as celebrity anchor assistants, copywriting planners, and product selection specialists.

It seems that Xiang Tai, who has strong celebrity resources and connections in the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles, is actually targeting the broader live streaming market. Her first live broadcast is more like a good start for the company and its influence, while laying the foundation for recruiting anchors in the future, and can also attract brand cooperation through the powerful sales ability of the first broadcast.

3. Celebrity-led sales push into deep waters

Compared with the previous controversy, the model of celebrities promoting products is now running more and more smoothly, gradually moving from the barbaric period to the deep water zone.

Ji Jie and Ye Yiqian on Taobao Live

Many well-known veteran stars and popular young stars have entered the live broadcast room, some started live broadcasting to sell goods, and some appeared in the live broadcast room as guests or brand promotion. In the just-passed Double Eleven, Taobao Live had stars such as Cecilia Cheung, Ye Yiqian and Ji Jie personally selling goods, and many stars also appeared in the live broadcast rooms of many brands.

This is due to the gradual maturity of the live streaming e-commerce industry’s infrastructure and the formation of consumer habits, but the biggest reason may be the professional MCNs behind many celebrities - professional organizations have stronger live streaming operation capabilities and powerful supply chains, and can convert the influence and traffic of celebrities to the greatest extent.

The MCN behind Cecilia Cheung and Ronald Cheng is Yaowang, and the MCN behind Ji Jie is Mengguo.

In an interview with 36Kr, Xie Rudong, chairman of Hangzhou Yaowang Network Technology Co., Ltd., once revealed that Yaowang has relatively "strict" requirements for celebrities. It will tap into the personal advantages of celebrities, give each celebrity different operating strategies, and create personalized sales plans. At the same time, Yaowang Technology will also stipulate information such as broadcast time and training sessions in the agreement signed with the celebrity.

Professional MCN agencies will provide strong support to celebrities’ live streaming sales, but from the current perspective, the MCN agency founded by Xiang Tai is far inferior to the MCN agencies that have been operating in the industry for a long time.

The comments about the mattress were criticized as "tasteless"

The first is the issue of live broadcast performance.

During the live broadcast, Xiang Tai was basically a "tool person". Most of the product explanations were handed over to the assistants, and the presentation form was also "acting" to reduce prices. When introducing some products, the assistants invited Xiang Tai to try or taste them, but Xiang Tai refused many of them. So many netizens commented that Xiang Tai's live broadcast was "selling a bunch of things that she doesn't like to people she doesn't like." At the same time, Xiang Tai's "be more generous" remarks about mattresses were also considered by netizens to be implying Wang Xiaofei and Zhang Lan, which seemed "very tasteless."

At the same time, three of the six live broadcasts on December 19 were interrupted due to black screen or sudden disconnection. Xiang Tai and the MCN agency behind her may not have been fully prepared in terms of equipment and basic settings in the live broadcast room.

The second issue is the supply chain.

Although Xiang Tai has offered a lot of preferential products, as observed by "E-commerce Online" in the previous article, the preferential prices of these live broadcast products are no different from the same products in other live broadcast rooms or even in stores. Many netizens also said that they have never heard of many brands. Xiang Tai, who just started live broadcasting and chose to create her own MCN, may not have established a complete supply chain, nor has she established connections with brands to obtain greater discounts.

Netizens' comments on Xiang Tai's live broadcast of goods, Xiang Tai closed the comment area

Poor live broadcast performance and an imperfect supply chain caused controversy after Xiang Tai's live broadcast started. On December 20, Xiang Tai closed the comment area of ​​​​TikTok, and Hangzhou Huotui Media Co., Ltd., which had previously posted multiple recruitment posts, was temporarily unavailable for search before returning to normal.

A large part of the reason for Xiang Tai and the company's actions is the criticism and complaints from many netizens. Livestreaming by celebrities is controversial: in addition to being criticized for "lowering their own status", many celebrities' recent livestreaming introductions were considered by netizens to be "cheating leeks" and "incomprehensible". Jia Nailiang's previous collaboration with Qudian was also considered by netizens to be a failure to screen partners and a failure to take social responsibility.

Under public opinion, Xiang Tai, who should have started her second live broadcast in full swing, did not reveal her arrangements for the next live broadcast of selling goods on Douyin. It is still uncertain whether Xiang Tai's live broadcast of selling goods is a marketing move or a preparation for long-term live broadcast of selling goods.

The live streaming market is welcoming more and more stars and MCN agencies. In the field of celebrity live streaming, which is heading into the deep waters, how the new entrants Xiang Tai and MCN agencies will develop depends on their subsequent operations. They may be a catfish or just a flash in the pan.

Author: Wang Zhan; Editor: Si Wen

WeChat official account: E-Commerce Online (ID: dianshangmj), see sharpness and insights, and focus on innovative media on the Internet and new business.