'Boss Livestreaming' reaps big sales revenue for companies

In addition to working in offices, conference rooms and supermarkets, retail firms' executives have been busy livestreaming online in an effort to get closer to younger consumers in the country, expanding their e-commerce reaches amid the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Teh-han Chow, interim CEO Greater China of Fonterra, which is the global leader as a dairy exporter and retailer, entered a broadcast studio last week at the brand's online store on JD.com to market its retail dairy products under the Anchor brand.

This livestreaming event, broadcasted on JD.com and the Douyin application, garnered more than 440,000 viewers and was liked 810,000 times.

As a result, Fonterra said orders generated from the livestreaming event soared 380 percent year-on-year. Registered fans of Anchor's online store exceeded 1.25 million. The company also has a livestreaming studio at its store on Tmall.

The CEO has shared stories about Anchor as a brand that's more than 100 years old and their high-standards and control on food quality and security, from farms to tables. Chow also tried delicacies made from Anchor products with renowned food influencer Mini.

With livestreaming becoming an increasingly significant tool in building an online consumption scenario and a battlefield for e-commerce platforms, companies' heads and executives who often appear in conference rooms and offices are stepping into the livestreaming studio to make efforts for a new business model.

On April 15, more than a million viewers on the video-sharing platform Bilibili watched McDonald's China CEO Phyllis Cheung's livestream the restaurant's new chicken products.

Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of home appliance giant Gree Electric Appliances, has achieved sales of 9.7 billion yuan in four livestream events. She said the purpose of livestreaming marketing is to enhance the integration of online and offline businesses.

Liang Jianzhang, co-founder of online travel agency Ctrip, has done more than a dozen livestream events to promote tourism products. Sometimes Liang wore costumes to attract viewers. Ctrip's financial report for its first quarter shows "Boss Livestreaming" marketing events have generated revenue of nearly 400 million yuan.