AliExpress, the Chinese marketplace platform owned by Alibaba, invites UK influencers to try livestreaming e-commerce. The new livestream service, which will operate through a partnership with Vogue Business, allows shoppers to interact with local models, actors, and TV personalities. Former Love Island contestants Olivia Attwood and Kady McDermott are part of the 'It Girls' mini shop programme.
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These influencers host livestreaming videos, selling various products and earning commissions on sales made via their streams. Additionally, they have the opportunity to develop their own fashion collections through a competition later in the year.
"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.
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Livestream shopping is not entirely new to the UK market, but previous attempts, such as TikTok's live shopping trial, faced challenges and did not meet targets, leading to a shift in focus towards the Southeast Asian market. However, AliExpress's entry into the UK market could signal a turning point, especially considering the growing trend of online shopping in the region.
Statistics show that in 2022, UK online sales saw their highest annual growth since 2007, with a 36% increase. Online sales constituted 26.5 percent of overall retail sales in the country, more than double the amount from a decade prior. With nearly 60 million e-commerce users expected in 2023, the UK is a ripe market for the livestream shopping model that has seen immense success in China.
In China, livestream shopping took off in 2016 and has since become a dominant force in e-commerce, driven by the pandemic and the country's zero-covid policy. The US market is estimated to be worth $68 billion by 2026; a key trends report from Coresight Research and Bambuser estimated the value of US livestream shopping to hit $32 billion by the end of 2023. It shows the potential for livestream shopping, although it has yet to become as consumer-centric as in China.
AliExpress's UK launch aims to offer customers smarter shopping choices by providing curated selections and bringing them closer to the products. Livestream shopping is predicted to account for up to 20% of all UK e-commerce sales by 2026, indicating a significant shift in consumer behavior towards interactive and real-time purchasing experiences.
At the workshop, AliExpress' content creators 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.
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.
With the UK's high rate of digital buyers and the increasing popularity of online shopping, livestream shopping may well be the future of e-commerce in the region. AliExpress's livestream service could potentially pave the way for a new era of e-commerce in the UK, combining the immediacy of online shopping with the interactivity of social media, potentially mirroring the success seen in Asian markets.
