6 Types of Live Stream Shoppers You Need to Know
Ecommerce livestreaming has become very popular in China due to COVID-19. According to a report published by Ali Research & KPMG China, in the first half of 2020, there were over 10 million live streams and the number of active live streamers exceeded 400 thousand. In total, the number of viewers was over 50 billion.
The report also forecasted that in 2020 the overall scale of live e-commerce will reach 1 trillion yuan and the penetration rate will reach 8.6%. In 2021, the scale of live streaming e-commerce will be expanded to 2.0 trillion RMB and the penetration rate will reach 14.3%.
As the industry has matured, we can see several key categories of consumers emerging based on different behaviors. Here are six of the key ones:
The Stockpilers
- This group is good at persuading themselves that if they don’t get it now, it is a loss for them. They also believe that those products will be used sometime in the future.This is actually the biggest consumer group on Taobao live stream. Most of them are females and moms.
- They are usually encouraged by offers such as “buy one get one free”, “the first one is ¥59, the second one is ¥39 and the last one is free”.
Group purchasing or Pinzu (拼组)
- For example, the live stream has a special offer, buy 3 sprays and get 1 free. So in total, you will get 4 sprays. But because you are too late, you didn’t get to buy them.
- So you go to this live streamer’s Weibo fan groups, and see there is another person selling the extra sprays that they don’t need. And you guys meet at a second-hand platform such as Xianyu (咸鱼) and you buy it from him/her, so in the end, you still get the spray, with a lower price than what is on the market.
The Fangirls
- There are two types. The first one is called “collective immigration”. Their idols are working with a brand and the idol appears as a guest in the live stream so they all come to watch and support. It is unlikely they will return to that live stream as they are only there to support their idol.
- The second type is permanent. For example, some of Austin Li’s followers watch his live stream simply because they like him. They have followed him for a long time as his career as taken off and they see themselves as his loyal fans and supporters.
Adventurers
- This group love the excitement that unknown things bring to them. For example, blind boxes.
- They are pursuing limited or hidden collections.
Sankeng Girls (三坑少女)
- Keng, in Chinese means traps. The phrase sankeng girls refers to three traps/obsessions common among young: Hanfu (汉服), Lolita clothes and JK or Japanese schoolgirl clothes.
- Girls who have the hobby of dressing up in these clothes, can’t help spending money on them or buying corresponding props, cosmetics, and accessories.
Point Collectors
- Most of them like playing online games and they imagine Taobao live streams as a game for them to collect Taobao user points.
- Alibaba has gamified live stream rooms so that viewers can earn points and move up in levels through purchasing items in the stream, watching the stream for a certain amount of time, commenting in the stream, etc.
- These points can be used for discounts, free items, etc.
Our takeaways:
The majority of viewer types we’ve mentioned are shoppers that are sensitive to prices and are easy for FMCG brands to target.
But for higher-end brands who want to avoid having their brand reputation cheapened by discounting, they can use other tactics such as offering free samples, personalization,12-months interest free payment plans. Limited edition or exclusive collections are also a great way to target the “Adventurers” group.
Talking about samples, it is usually easy to get them in western countries if you ask sales associates for them, but in China, this is not the case. Most of the time, consumers need to purchase them, or if you have good relationship with the sales person, s/he might give one to you. So free samples are are great bonus for consumers in China.
Read more: 当代年轻人直播购物迷惑行为大赏
