Livestreaming is becoming mainstream

For the e-commerce function, categories that saw the most substantial increase in vendors were apparel, local services, household goods, automobiles, beauty products and cosmetics during the January-June period. Meanwhile, new businesses that took up livestreaming during this time primarily came from autos, smartphones, household goods, cosmetics and education service, the report said.

Zhang Xintian, an analyst from iResearch, said cooperation between short video apps and e-commerce platforms is an explosive commercial model as the former can drive online traffic to the latter.

As of March this year, users of livestreaming services in China reached 560 million, accounting for 62 percent of the country's total internet users, said the China Internet Network Information Center.

Revenue from China's livestreaming e-commerce market stood at 433.8 billion yuan last year, and is expected to more than double to 961 billion yuan this year, said a recent report from market consultancy iiMedia Research.

Beijing-based ByteDance, owner of the popular short video platform Douyin, is also eyeing the lucrative livestreaming e-commerce sector, as users have expressed an interest in combining shopping and creative experiences. Douyin recently launched an e-commerce department to offer users greater options on the platform.

In addition, Chinese retail giant Suning.com announced on July 30 that it inked an agreement with Douyin to carry out in-depth cooperation in multiple fields, such as supply chain services and livestreamed branding.

According to the agreement, consumers will be able to purchase products sold by Suning.com directly from Douyin's e-commerce livestreaming platform without leaving the video platform, where celebrities and livestreamers will promote products. Suning.com will also provide delivery and after-sales services.

"Through the in-depth collaboration, we can further reach young users and gain insight about their needs in an attempt to provide more high-quality and precise services," said Fan Chunyan, vice-president of Suning.com, adding that Douyin's e-commerce platform will help consumers find and get good products at good prices.

Chinese entrepreneur Luo Yonghao raked in more than 170 million yuan during his livestreaming e-commerce debut on Douyin in April, with 48 million users tuning in. Over 910,000 sets of products－including tech gadgets, foods and snacks－were sold.

Ma Shicong, an analyst with Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys, said the commercial use of the superfast 5G and ultra-high definition technologies has boosted the livestreaming industry, adding that she is bullish on prospects for the sector.

"Short video platforms have entered a new phase by teaming up with online retailers and tapped into supply chain construction and the whole e-commerce ecosystem," Ma said.

Ma added that more efforts are needed to standardize the behavior of livestreamers and video-sharing platforms in response to mounting complaints over misleading or false information, substandard products and a lack of after-sales service.

Sun Jiashan, a researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, said there is a lot of potential for e-commerce aspirations of short video platforms. "The introduction of professional MCN operators and paid knowledge services will generate profits for the short video industry," Sun said.