Short videos, livestreaming redefine retail︱短视频+直播重新定义产品销售

From the outside, Liu Bing, 35, is a vlogger on Douyin, China's leading short video app, where he imparts so-called life lessons through a series of two-minute video clips to the younger generation, or "between 18 and 28 years old", as he precisely put it.

表面上看，35岁的刘冰只是名入驻抖音的视频博主，以视频剪辑合集的形式向年轻一代，也就是他口中“18至28岁的年轻人”传授人生经验。

But a more ambitious plan is in the making: when the current 30,000 followers grow to a size of 50,000 and beyond, Liu will consider introducing necklaces, earrings and other jewelry items featuring Chinese characteristics that he designs, manufactures (in partnership with an original equipment manufacturer) and sells.

实际上，刘冰的雄心不止于此。他计划在粉丝数从3万涨到5万以后，就开始营销项链、耳环一类有中国特色的珠宝，由他操刀设计，与原厂商合作生产，亲自营销。

Liu's choice of "detour" uncovered a new way of doing business: selling your persona before selling your brand.

刘冰独辟蹊径，揭示出一种新的经营手段：打造品牌前，先打造个人形象。

Enriching media forms from short videos to livestreaming are rewriting the retail playbook in China.

小到各种短视频，大到直播流媒体，丰富的媒体形式正让国内销售业脱胎换骨。

"We are witnessing a shift from rack-based shopping to discovery-based shopping, and eventually to trust-based shopping," said Jason Yu, general manager of consultancy Kantar Worldpanel China. "I choose to buy something not necessarily because of the products per se, but because of the person selling it."

凯度消费者指数大中华区总经理虞坚指出：“我们正在见证货架式购物到发现式购物，而发现式购物转向信任式购物的转变。我决定购买，不一定是因为产品本身，而是因为销售者本身。”

This retail "new normal" can be traced back to the early days of livestreaming, a real-time interaction between customers and store owners materialized by technological readiness, that is, smartphones and high-speed internet connections.

这般零售“新常态”来源于早期的直播形式。直播，是一种通过智能手机与高速带宽连接一类的技术支持，实现顾客与店主实时交互的流媒体形式。

For long, livestreaming has remained an obscure practice. But when Taobao, China's top e-commerce site, introduced the function five years ago, it took off and turned into something of a must for businesses aspiring for a younger generation of consumers.

长期以来，流媒体直播形式无人问津。直到五年前，淘宝网推出该功能，直播才渐趋流行。现在，为刺激年轻一代消费者购物，直播已成为各类商家的必备手段。

Taobao Live is the brainchild of Zhao Lidong, who oversees product development and content commercialization at Taobao Live. She said she believes new media forms as such stand to offer sellers and influencers a more personal, straightforward way to engage with their audiences.

淘宝直播的创意来源于赵立冬，她负责淘宝直播与淘宝短视频产品的开发与内容商业化。她相信，类似这样的新媒体形式给商家和直播者提供了一种更个性化、与观众接触更直接的方式。

Today, the platform has groomed a handful of influencers, or better known as "hosts" in the online shopping lexicon, including household names Austin Li and Viya. Many admit to buying for the sake of supporting their beloved characters.

如今，该平台已经培养了不少直播红人，或者说“主播”，其中就包括家喻户晓的李佳琦和薇娅。许多顾客也承认自己是为了支持自己喜欢的主播才消费。

China's livestreaming e-commerce market reached 961 billion yuan in 2020, a jump of 121.5 percent from the previous year, according to data from iiMedia Research.

艾媒咨询数据显示，2020年，国内直播平台电子商务市场总规模达9,610亿元，同比增长121.5%。

The sector is on a steady upward trajectory to reach 1.2 billion yuan this year.

该行业蒸蒸日上，今年预计达到1.2万亿元。

As livestreaming industry proliferates, brands can no longer solely rely on key opinion leaders－KOLs or Wang Hong－to market their projects, due to costs and quality control issues. Instead, they employ key opinion consumers－KOCs－who specialize in product reviews for a smaller patch of followers.

流媒体直播行业欣欣向荣，成本和质量控制的问题接踵而至。因此，各个品牌都不再只依靠“关键意见领袖”（网红）来营销，而是聘请那些做产品测评的，尤其是精于某一小部分群体所关注产品的“关键消费领袖”。

"KOCs make eminent sense to retailers due to their higher perceived reliability and trustworthiness," said Jennifer Ye, partner and China consumer markets leader at consultancy PwC.

普华永道公司中国风险及控制服务部合伙人兼中国消费市场行业主管合伙人叶旻女士表示：“关键消费领袖在消费者群体中有较高可信度，因而对于商家而言意义重大。”

"To appeal to younger consumers in China, it is critical for brands to find KOCs that embody the right brand values, and who can reliably connect with target audiences through user-generated content," said Ye, citing the example of Chanel partnering with a local media company to establish a network of micro-influencers.

她指出，要想吸引国内的年轻消费者，找到能传达正确品牌价值、能通过产品反馈密切联系目标受众的关键消费领袖非常重要，并举出香奈儿与当地媒体公司合作，建立微型影响力圈子的例子。

Peng Jingxuan, 26, who is doing her second master's degree in France, unexpectedly developed a cult following after posting her videos playing guzheng, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, on Bilibili, China's top video portal and community for notably the Generation Z population.

26岁的彭静旋正于法国攻读第二个硕士学位，她在bilibili——国内最大的视频门户，也是年轻一代的社区——上发布了数段弹奏古筝的视频，此后迅速走红。

During her performance, she dressed up in traditional Chinese costumes and wore makeup in ancient Chinese style. With a fan base of 1.5 million and many of her videos played more than 1 million times each, brands spanning cosmetics to snacking utilize her services.

演奏古筝时，她妆容韵古，身着传统华服，拥有近150万粉丝，许多条视频播放量均破百万。现在，大到各种化妆品，小到各类零食，许多品牌都以她的视频为媒介做推广。

"Because my videos are essentially promoting the rising China cultural tide, I'd favor brands whose brand-positioning aligns with my online persona, namely an advocate of Chinese culture," Peng said of her rationale in choosing merchants to collaborate with.

在谈及选择合作商家的标准时，她说：“本质上讲，我的视频推动了中国文化浪潮的崛起，所以我更喜欢与那些品牌定位与我的线上形象，即传播中国文化形象一致的品牌合作。”

But just as the old Chinese saying goes, "water can carry a boat, but can also overturn it", there could be potential backlash over overreliance on influencers, warned Yu from Kantar Worldpanel.

古语道，水能载舟，亦能覆舟。凯度指数总经理虞坚警告称，过度依赖网络红人还有引发集体抵制的可能。

"If a delicately curated persona collapses, the potential damage that would do to brands is beyond what they can bear."

“倘若精心塑造的人设崩塌，造成的损失或将超出品牌承受能力。”

detour

英 [ˈdiːtʊə(r)]；美 [ˈdiːtʊr]

v. 绕道；（使）绕行

n. 迂回路；绕弯路；走远路

trajectory

英 [trəˈdʒektəri]；美 [trəˈdʒektəri]

n. 弹道；（在空中的）轨迹

portal

英 [ˈpɔːtl]；美 [ˈpɔːrtl]

n. （网站）门户；接入口；豪华的入口

backlash

英 [ˈbæklæʃ]；美 [ˈbæklæʃ]

n. 强烈抵制，集体反对

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你所不知道的产品销售新方式