By June 2020, 309 million, or roughly a third of China’s internet users, tuned in to livestreaming e-commerce, said the 46th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). The number of people who watched livestreaming sales events on various online marketplaces has increased by 16.7% compared to CNNIC’s March report, making it the fastest-growing internet sector in the country in the first half of 2020.
In early 2020, as the COVID-19 outbreak closed down most offline sales in China for months, livestreaming e-commerce opened a window of opportunity for professional salespeople, business owners, and even corporate CEOs to approach customers.
Aside from e-commerce apps like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA; HKEX: 9988)’s Taobao and Tmall, short video apps such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also major platforms in the country’s livestreaming e-commerce scene.
Read more: TECH PANO | How livestreaming e-commerce is posing a threat to Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.