Source: Wall Street News
From being “superior and unique” to “competing for power”.
On the afternoon of February 20, Taobao announced the first major move of the year: the formal establishment of a live e-commerce company to provide fully managed operation services for celebrities, KOLs, and MCN organizations interested in starting broadcasting.
Wall Street News ● Insight Research has learned that this service is mainly aimed at “novice players” who are new to the game, providing them with refined hosting and operation services to help them get started quickly and adapt to the Taoxian ecosystem live streaming method.
Insight Research has learned that the company is managed by the Taotian Live Streaming Operation Team. Instead, the main goal is to recruit new anchors, and the main goal is to recruit new anchors, and adopt a cooperative model with anchors that guarantee or share profits. This is similar to what was previously rumored that JD would lower the threshold to recruit anchors without evaluating GMV, gross profit, etc.
Previously, Doukuai had already eaten a wave of e-commerce dividends from live streaming. Since then, video accounts and Xiaohongshu have continued to increase. Faced with strong enemies, the two traditional e-commerce companies Taobao and Jingdong have had to invest more resources to join this “new traffic” battle.
Live e-commerce is still a must for giants
Comprehensive e-commerce traffic hit the ceiling, and the increase came from live e-commerce, which became the market consensus in the past two years.
According to Douyin e-commerce's 2023 inventory, GMV increased 277% year-on-year;$KUAISHOU-W (01024.HK)$The year-on-year growth rate of e-commerce revenue has surpassed the GMV growth rate since Q1 in 2023; the GMV of the video channel has increased 3 times compared to 2022, and Ma Huateng set the tone during the annual meeting “What we can do our best to develop this year is live e-commerce with video channels”; he has always focused on the low price mentality$PDD Holdings (PDD.US)$A live streaming portal has also been added, raising the level of emphasis on live e-commerce.
Although the growth rate of live e-commerce declined for the first time on Double Eleven last year, it is still the fastest growing online trading channel, and it is also a must-compete place for internet giants.
At the end of last year,$JD.com (JD.US)$/$JD-SW (09618.HK)$It is reported that they are actively competing for Dong Yuhui and lowering the threshold for recruiting anchors to try not to be squeezed out of the live e-commerce table. It once confessed to Insight Research that live streaming e-commerce will be the focus of development in 24 years; video accounts that started late estimated that the GMV for live streaming delivery in 2023 would exceed 300 billion yuan; and Xiaohongshu, which was criticized for its ability to commercialize, also successfully raised a group of young core middle class users with high customer unit prices and non-standard niche products.
From being “superior and unique” to “competing for power”
As live e-commerce ushered in a more intense second half, Taobao also stepped up its live e-commerce business.
The purpose of Taobao's establishment of a live streaming e-commerce company and opening up a fully hosted business is that as the live e-commerce industry gradually grows rapidly and stabilizes, it has embarked on a path similar to integrated e-commerce. It is necessary to open up new space through product quality and refined operation, while maintaining its appeal to existing users.
Taobao's platform and supply chain advantages can provide celebrities and influencers with product selection, supply chain, and operation services that they are not good at, and this is also the threshold for the live streaming industry to expand.
Those that have not yet built their own supply chain$EAST BUY (01797.HK)$It has been criticized many times by consumers for its poor level of quality control. Previously, Wuchang rice was “counterfeited”, and recently it was revealed that self-managed Ecuadorian South American white shrimp conceals the addition and excessive use of sodium metabisulfite, causing a “crisis of trust.”
Furthermore, will the industry compete with other MCN organizations when they are worried about the official fate of setting up a live streaming e-commerce company?
Taotian indicated to Insight Research that the purpose of the hosting model is to help new anchors and institutions reduce upfront operating expenses, which is equivalent to bearing the risk of early incubation for the institution. In other words, even if the anchor doesn't have a high conversion rate in the early stages of live streaming, as long as it has the potential to make the content popular, the platform can use the advantages of the supply chain to graft it onto the pallet and achieve commercial monetization.
Moreover, during the support period of half a year, the anchor can withdraw at any time and automatically cancel the contract and return to the market after half a year.
Right now, the live streaming industry is gradually passing through a dividend period, from irrational growth, to “superhead fall,” to mid-tail anchors getting heated inside. Amidst this wave, giants are starting to support “new traffic” in the midst of this wave. Obviously, the live e-commerce industry will go from being “superior” to “competing for popularity.”
To take a place in this fierce competition, the key is to give full play to its advantages. This requires deep thought and how to make the most of the platform's strengths.
Editor/jayden