Now, whenever some new technological ideas and business models succeed in China, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley will consider moving it to the United States.
From bike-sharing to short videos that have gone viral around the world, there are vivid examples.
In 2021, the Silicon Valley giants will focus on live streaming.
According to data from eMarketer, a world-renowned market research institution, the total market value of live streaming in China in 2022 will reach US$480 billion.
The US "Forbes" biweekly magazine website pointed out in a recent report that technology giants such as Facebook's parent company Meta, Amazon, TikTok (Tik Tok overseas version), Twitter and the sticker-based social networking site Pinterest emerging in recent years, All of them have taken a fancy to the huge potential and earning power of the live broadcast delivery market, and they have poured into this field.
The unique charm of live streaming
What is the unique attraction of live streaming?
The answer is simple: Streaming media such as live streaming has become a hub for people shopping in entertainment.
Elma Berganovic, co-founder of influencer marketing agency Amra & Elma, explained: “Social media has become an entertainment hub where people sometimes get a little bored and want to relax between work, they scroll through Turn on the phone and suddenly see someone promoting a product, and the user may go in and take a look and then place an order.”
At present, live streaming mainly exerts its significant influence in vertical fields such as fashion, beauty, and fitness, and the main consumers in these fields are women.
However, Berganovic pointed out that home improvement is also another major vertical for live streaming.
In addition, marketers are targeting men as key sales targets in verticals such as tech gear and fitness.
Surprisingly, the key to people participating in live streaming is not necessarily shopping.
On the contrary, a fun and passionate carrier brings joy to the delivery space while triggering the audience's interest and engagement.
If the displayed item is exactly what the audience cares about, the audience will click the buy button to place an order.
Silicon Valley giants rush in
Just 3 years ago, live streaming was virtually non-existent in the West, and it accounted for only a small portion of the commercial market in China - just 3.5% of retail e-commerce.
But last year, sales of live streaming in China were $300 billion, or about 12 percent of retail sales.
eMarketer estimates that by 2023, that number will reach 19.4% and sales will top $600 billion.
Sales in the U.S. live streaming segment are likely to reach $11 billion this year, rising to $25 billion by 2023.
According to "Forbes" magazine, Amazon has invested heavily in its live delivery service; Google and Facebook are using their YouTube and Instagram platforms to try live delivery services respectively; Pinterest announced at the end of last year to enter the field of live delivery; China's TikTok has also become a strong competitor in the field of live streaming.
At the end of last year, TikTok announced the function of the little yellow car that brings goods live.
To put it simply, during the live broadcast of the blogger, the audience can click on the little yellow cart on the page to directly purchase the products recommended during the live broadcast.
At present, although this function can only be used in Indonesia and the United Kingdom, it is foreseeable that it will be promoted globally in the future.
According to a report by the US modern retail website on December 27 last year, Meta has successively tested the live delivery function with big clothing brands, Walmart and private pet retailer Petco and other big companies.
In addition, in order to increase the popularity of live streaming, Meta held live streaming events every Friday from May to July last year, and a month-long live streaming event in November.
It is worth noting that since the parent company Google has a mature online retail network, YouTube has a natural advantage in e-commerce live broadcasting.
For the first time in 2020, more than 500,000 channels went live on YouTube.
YouTube also hosted a week-long live-streamed shopping event during China's "Double Eleven" event last year.
This year, the company also hired a number of e-commerce veterans to participate in the promotion of live broadcast delivery business.
It is reported that at present, Google has reached a united front “against Amazon” with e-commerce platform Shopify, payment platform Sqaure, etc.
"I think there will be many opportunities in the field of live streaming, and technology companies will definitely continue to invest in this area," Berganovic said.
"Chinese homework" is not easy to copy
Experts believe that large social platforms such as Meta, YouTube and TikTok have increased audience engagement with live streaming.
In a report on January 5, US retail industry media Retail Dive pointed out that a survey by fintech company Klarna showed that only 25% of shoppers said they had participated in a virtual live shopping event.
However, 60% of shoppers who have tried live streaming said it improved their shopping experience, and 47% preferred live streaming to shopping instead of visiting a store.
Jason Goldberg, chief commercial officer of Publicis in the United States, said: "Consumers have entered the field of live streaming and started to consume." But he also warned that the development of live streaming in the West still faces inherent obstacles. Among them Countries including the U.S. have lower adoption of digital payments than in China, where the digital payments model helps drive sales; in addition, the U.S. live-streaming market is built on ad-funded content rather than a purchase-driven online commerce model .
"Because of these limitations, there is no single entity in the U.S. leading the way."