On Alibaba's Singles' Day last year, the world’s largest annual one-day shopping event, half of the 200,000-plus big brands and merchants on B2C e-marketplace Tmall were selling their snacks, fashion wear, home appliances and more via livestreaming. The sales generated reached nearly RMB 20bn, accounting for 10% of Tmall's total sales.
Executives from the major brands, including P&G's Vice-President of Communications and Public Relations for Greater China Xu Youjie, showed up in the livestreaming studio to greet viewers and present surprise gifts.
P&G is a brand with more than 180 years of history, but in China the company has been struggling with sluggish growth since 2013. In 2018 P&G took a stab at live commerce, the term for online retail via livestreaming. Xu, who has worked at P&G for over three decades, feels more challenged than ever before: “You have to figure out what is popular among consumers. Otherwise, you will be left behind.”
Xu knows by now the power of livestreaming in boosting
