Livestreamers from four markets gathered to share insight behind the world’s hottest retail trend

As the world continues to embrace online shopping following the Covid-19 pandemic, AliExpress, a global retail online marketplace under Alibaba Group, is bringing the ‘shoppertainment’ trend that has transformed the retail industry and reshaped the e-commerce landscape in China to global markets.

AliExpress held its first virtual cross-market knowledge sharing workshop entitled “When The East Meets The West” on 29 June. Dedicated to empowering livestreamers from European markets where AliExpress has a strong presence, the workshop saw five livestreamers from China, Poland, Spain and Ukraine exchange learnings from being early adopters of livestreaming, the new social commerce and retail trend that has experienced huge growth potential especially in the post-Covid era. In a bid to replicate the success of China’s livestreaming model across European markets, AliExpress not only provides the tools and infrastructure but also a platform for knowledge sharing to its European livestreamers.

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“Livestreaming is a fast-growing trend that has completely blurred the line between entertainment and shopping, created a new phenomenon known as ‘shoppertainment.’ Tapping into shoppers’ thirst for digital content and online interactions, it is quickly becoming one of the most effective ways for businesses to sell to and engage customers. As one of the pioneers of this trend, we hope to roll this business model out across our key markets to help both content creators and our sellers to take advantage of this exciting new trend,” said Wang Mingqiang, the General Manager of AliExpress.

Livestreaming – a brand-new business model and career opportunity for content creators

At the workshop, AliExpress’ ambassadors revealed how they became livestreamers and how the new career path has changed their lives.

• Queenie from China used to work in a wig store in the United States but was stuck in China after returning home for Chinese New Year. She rapidly shot to fame when she was tasked to sell wigs to overseas consumers through livestreaming. This rare opportunity not only opened a new career path up for her, but also fulfilled her dream to become a star.
• Paulina Szlak, a civil engineering student and a popular fashion livestreamer in Poland, along with Gonzalo Mendaza, a marketing specialist and technology livestreamer in Spain, shared how they managed to balance their careers in livestreaming with their studies and office job. Their journeys represent the new-generation workforce where people no longer only have one job but take on multiple identities.
• Dima Romashko, a former lawyer from Ukraine, is another content creator who has transformed his life through livestreaming. His experience online led him to become a TV host of the popular Ukrainian-Polish TV music channel, Music Box UA.

The workshop also welcomed Mancy, a livestreamer on Alibaba’s Taobao Live to demonstrate how livestreaming is conducted in China and to exchange learnings with the other ambassadors. Mancy is an outdoor livestreamer who dedicates her streams to helping rural farmers sell fresh produce. She has recruited a large fan base with her unique streams and once sold 6 tons of dates in one live show.

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AliExpress has been a key growth driver for live streaming trend in Europe

To help sellers and content creators tap into the livestreaming trend, AliExpress has been pushing out various livestreaming initiatives across its key markets and has already seen encouraging results. Since AliExpress launched a new version of its in-app live streaming feature back in July 2019, it has provided more than 10,000 live shows in eight different languages, including English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Polish, and Ukrainian, and drawn audiences of nearly 30 million from all over the world with more than 60 million interactions. In Spain, AliExpress has launched more than 500 live shows, attracting 1.2 million viewers to date. In France, AliExpress has only recently introduced its livestream initiatives, launching an impressive 28 shows since May.

AliExpress also launched the AliExpress Connect platform in May to help influencers worldwide digitalize and scale their businesses. Through AliExpress Connect, influencers can partner with AliExpress directly, as well as with brands that are selling through the marketplace, enabling influencers worldwide to generate new income streams and for brands to boost their businesses, allowing all parties to benefit from and embrace the shoppertainment trend.

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