A villager sold tens of millions of dollars in 4 hours, and the live streaming trend has spread overseas!

In China, live streaming has become a household name. Li Jiaqi's words "Oh my God! Buy it, buy it" have emptied the wallets of countless women. Live streaming has become even more popular amid the pandemic. Many celebrities, well-known business leaders, and grassroots have joined the ranks of live streaming.

China has become a model for live streaming sales around the world. Now overseas countries have copied China's homework and exported the live streaming sales model overseas. Giants such as Amazon, Walmart, TiTok, and YouTube have all laid out live streaming e-commerce, with Amazon Live and TikTok Shop launched one after another. At the same time, Walmart also announced a cooperation with the video shopping platform Buywith, and YouTube acquired the Indian video shopping app SimSim.

Chinese cross-border sellers also took advantage of the situation and started cross-border live streaming to sell a large number of products to overseas consumers. Not long ago, a topic called #村村直播一次直播售千亿美元的产品到英国# became a hot search on Weibo. A villager in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, sold tens of millions of dollars worth of crystal products to British consumers through live streaming in just 4 hours.

In this process, a familiar yet unfamiliar profession has emerged in the Chinese recruitment market: international Internet marketer, or "cross-border e-commerce anchor". From the results observed so far, cross-border sellers are also quietly building a talent system in this area, either through external recruitment or internal training, in order to reap this wave of dividends. Moreover, some cross-border e-commerce anchors have already made their mark overseas.

Cross-border live streaming is on the rise. A villager earned tens of millions of dollars in 4 hours

Xingxi Village in Lianyungang already has a breath of spring in March . More than 10 years ago, it was just a traditional rural village where grains and vegetables were grown. The village was pitch black before 8 o'clock in the evening. But in the past two years, even at three or four o'clock in the morning, it is still brightly lit. This is all due to the rise of cross-border live streaming e-commerce.

A few days ago, Xingxi Village, located in a corner of Donghai County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, suddenly appeared on the "News Broadcast". At the same time, a topic titled #Villagers sold tens of millions of dollars worth of products to the UK in a live broadcast# became a hot search on Weibo. More Chinese people became aware of the crystals here and the cross-border live broadcast e-commerce industry.

Although Xingxi Village is located in a remote area, it is rich in crystal. As early as 30 years ago, many farmers used their slack time to dig crystals and grind necklaces. It is a famous "Crystal Village" in Donghai County.

Public information shows that Donghai County has a total crystal reserve of about 300,000 tons, ranking first in China in terms of both reserves and quality. In 2013, it was selected as one of the 20 "Symbols of Jiangsu". In 2017, e-commerce live streaming emerged, and Xuebu Village in Donghai County, the first crystal Taobao village, started Taobao live streaming, selling crystal to thousands of households in China through this emerging method. Now Xingxi Village has also used cross-border live streaming to bring crystal abroad and into the hands of overseas consumers.

When promoting his hometown Donghai County , the blogger "Canglan Liuzhuan" with 430,000 followers said that there are anchors in every village there , everyone can sell goods, there are a lot of young people, and the e-commerce atmosphere is excellent .

It is reported that a few days ago, Li Zhongliang, a villager in Xingxi Village, sold thousands of dollars of crystal to the British by live streaming for 4 hours in one night . In Xingxi Village , there are many villagers like Li Zhongliang who do cross-border live streaming e-commerce. They have multiplied their income several times through online live streaming sales.

Why are the British so crazy about crystal?

In the West, crystals are given the power to bring good luck and wealth, and many people also believe in crystal therapy. Therefore, crystals have always had a large market in European and American countries. Especially during the epidemic, the role of crystals has been magnified and accepted by more people.

According to a previous data from Tichoo (a one-stop data analysis service platform for global video e-commerce), in the UK TikTok list in a certain week in January this year, crystal products accounted for 3 of the top 10 in terms of sales. The average monthly search volume for the 37 most popular crystals in the UK was 570,400 times.

On TikTok, the #crystalhealing tag has accumulated 622.2 million views. Under the tag, there are various videos about crystals shared by foreigners, including various products, the process of polishing products, and treatment with crystals, etc. The most viewed video introduces a crystal bottle that can change into multiple colors, which has accumulated 2.4 million views.

The cumulative views of other crystal-related tags are also not low, such as #crystals with 9.4 million views and #crystalshop with 1.3 billion views.

It is this popularity that has driven the sales of crystal products in Xingxi Village and even the entire Donghai County. Today, Donghai County is vigorously developing a new model of "crystal + cross-border e-commerce" . Many villagers, including those in Xingxi Village , have invested in cross-border live e-commerce. Now after nightfall, walking in these villages, you can not only hear anchors promoting products in English, but also French, Japanese and other languages ​​can be heard from time to time in every corner.

Last year, the transaction volume of Donghai County's crystal industry exceeded 30 billion yuan, e-commerce network retail sales increased by 23% , and live e-commerce ranked seventh in the country and first in the province. Donghai County's crystals have traveled across the ocean through a small screen and have reached consumers around the world.

Under the above topic, some netizens complained that I learn English for exams, while others learn English to make money from foreigners. In the past, it was unthinkable to do business directly with foreigners through foreign language live broadcasts, but as the live broadcast sales model is exported abroad, it is gradually becoming the norm.

Therefore, it is not only villagers like Li Zhongliang, but also some cross-border e-commerce companies that have smelled business opportunities also hope to seize this money-making channel. They make early arrangements to seize the opportunity by hiring some talents with foreign language skills to live broadcast and sell goods on platforms such as TiTok.

A girl born after 1995 sells goods on Tiktok live streaming, and foreigners buy, buy, buy

"The suit I'm wearing now is Link No. 1. It's really super, super stylish. It's a very good-looking suit with a perfect shape. Come, look at the waistline. It's really slim-fitting..." When you see this, do you feel like you have come to the live broadcast room of a live streaming host who sells goods?

This passage was indeed spoken by a live streamer, but the original text was in English, and the live streamer was not facing consumers in China. This was Yan Guanghua recreating the scene of live streaming on TiTok in the UK at the Boao Forum. With her super fast speaking speed, precise explanation of selling points, and high enthusiasm, consumers' attention was immediately focused on the products she recommended.

Yan Guanghua works for a cross-border e-commerce company in Longhua District, Shenzhen, and such live broadcasts are a normal part of his work.

Recently, many people may have seen such headlines on news pages, TV, or TikTok: "A girl born after 1995 sells goods on TikTok live streaming in English, helping "good Chinese products" go global" and "A girl from Chongqing sells goods on TikTok live streaming, and foreigners are crazy about it."

The protagonist in all of these stories is Yan Guanghua, 27 years old. Before August last year, she worked as an oral English teacher and a translator. Her work experience can be said to have nothing to do with the live broadcast industry. But now she can handle the screen with ease, respond quickly to consumer needs, and handle problems quickly.

Her live studio may be in an office building or a factory, with a large number of goods piled up behind her. But she prepares carefully for each live broadcast. For example, for a live broadcast of accessories in the United States, the people, goods and venue are carefully arranged. When the broadcast starts, Yan Guanghua's makeup, accessories and clothes are all dressed up in a way that Europeans and Americans like. The goods are also arranged in an orderly manner, and the scene is chosen in a corner of an office building with a floor-to-ceiling window behind it and plenty of light.

Yan Guanghua has a small round face, big eyes, pouty lips, and is less than 1.6 meters tall with a round figure. Although she is not ugly, she is not like the Internet celebrities that we often see in China - slender, fair, tall, and with a melon-shaped face. But among her colleagues, her performance is always far ahead, even many tall and beautiful foreign anchors are left behind by her.

Yan Guanghua believes that the core ability of an English anchor is not his appearance and language, but his sales ability. "I have seen many anchors around me who are very good at language and have very good conditions, but their data is very poor. Some of them are foreign anchors, some have studied abroad for many years, and some are IELTS writing teachers. But their live broadcast data is not good, and they may leave after one month or two weeks. This is the reason."

When it comes to live broadcast skills, Yan Guanghua said that the opening determines success or failure, and what to say in the first three minutes is crucial. In these three minutes, the anchor does not introduce the product fabric and quality, but says what they want to hear. "First talk about the benefits and advantages of the live broadcast room, why they follow you, and tell them why they should stay in your live broadcast room in the first three minutes of the broadcast, and then share the big benefits and good products."

As for how to increase sales in live broadcast rooms, she pointed out two points: First, tell consumers what they want to hear. What they want to hear most is benefits and discounts, which are things they can easily get from you, such as gifts, because it is human nature to love to take advantage; second, tell them what they are afraid of. She also said that in a good live broadcast, every movement and look must be accurate.

In addition, it is not difficult to find out from her live broadcast that in the live broadcast, she is more willing to introduce the feeling of using the product on herself, rather than stiffly introducing its quality, data parameters, etc. The overall feeling is that she is sharing her favorite goodies with her friends.

Media reported that Yan Guanghua was live streaming and selling goods on TikTok, and the video had received over 210,000 likes.

From Yan Guanghua, we can see that the spark of cross-border live e-commerce has been ignited on TikTok. As the social acceptance of online shopping increases, we can expect a prairie fire. Therefore, not only TikTok, but also giants such as Amazon, Walmart, and Meta (formerly Facebook) have entered the market and are ready for a new round of competition.

Giants are accelerating their layout, and live streaming functions are gradually being launched

If you ask which business model has become the most popular in China in recent years, livestreaming shopping is definitely one of them. According to data from eMarketer, a world-renowned market research organization , the total market value of livestreaming shopping in China will reach $480 billion in 2022.

Compared with the booming domestic market, there is still a lot of room for development in the overseas market. Coresight Research, a US company that studies retail data , predicts that the US e-commerce live streaming market is expected to exceed US$25 billion in sales by 2023 .

Faced with a blue ocean and with China as an excellent example, some Internet technology giants could not help but enter the market.

In fact, there is no lack of soil and foundation for live streaming sales overseas. According to a previous survey conducted by YouTube, 75% of users will search for items to buy on YouTube, and more than 85% of users choose to trust and buy products recommended by YouTube content creators. Forbes began to call China's live streaming sales an indicator of the next move of American consumers.

Therefore, similar to China, there are currently two main types of technology companies that have already deployed live streaming business: one is cross-border e-commerce platforms, and the other is social media.

In terms of platforms, Amazon, a cross-border e-commerce unicorn, launched Amazon Live as early as February 2019, trying to open up the live streaming sales situation. According to Forbes magazine, Amazon has invested heavily in its live streaming sales service. In December 2020, retail giant Walmart tried live streaming sales on TikTok for the first time , recommending its fashion brand products to users. Since then, Walmart has also chosen Twitter and Youtube for live streaming sales activities. In addition, last year Walmart also announced a partnership with TalkShopLive, a US social e-commerce live streaming provider. Through integration, all brands with Walmart-distributed products can use the platform to create shoppable content. Alibaba International Station officially started cross-border B2B live streaming in 2019, which is mainly divided into two forms: one is factory visit live streaming, and the other is brand live streaming.

In terms of social media, TikTok is undoubtedly a well-deserved dark horse. In February 2021, TikTok launched TikTok Shop. The first site was Indonesia, one of the countries with the largest concentration of users, and the second site was the UK, where the e-commerce penetration rate reached 19.3%. In March this year, TikTok Shop added three new sites in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia in Southeast Asia, which have a strong user base.

In addition to the social media newcomer TikTok, veteran players Twitter, Youtube, Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram, and Pinterest have also announced their own plans for live streaming sales:

Last year on Black Friday, Walmart launched its own live streaming shopping event on Twitter. This live streaming was the first test of Twitter Live Shopping.

YouTube first announced its plan to invest in live streaming sales in early 2021, and then focused on testing the live streaming sales function on video on demand. In July of the same year, YouTube also acquired Indian video e-commerce platform Simsim for US$70 million. YouTube's parent company Google has also integrated video shopping into its search business.

Last May, Facebook launched the “Live Shopping Friday” event, conducting a small-scale test of live streaming sales in the beauty, skincare, and fashion sectors. The event lasted for three months.

In August 2020, Instagram launched the Live Shopping feature in the United States, allowing sellers to open their own shopping channels, where they can sell products through live broadcasts and interact with customers in real time.

Pinterest, an emerging photo-based social platform in the United States, has launched Pinterest TV, which allows users to watch videos and shop in different live categories such as beauty, food, DIY and home.

If we take a closer look, there are many technology giants that have seen the huge potential and money-making ability of the live streaming e-commerce market and are trying to get a piece of the pie.

Today, the epidemic has stimulated the rapid rise of online shopping, and the increasing social acceptance of online shopping has provided support for the development of live e-commerce. While technology giants are seizing the market, cross-border sellers are also actively making plans. However, in this process, sellers are facing some difficulties, the most troublesome of which is the talent problem.

Cross-border e-commerce sellers face talent difficulties

When it comes to cross-border live streaming, we have always emphasized the talent problem. After the implementation of the double reduction policy last year, a group of foreign language teachers from training institutions embarked on the road of live streaming. For example, at the end of last year, New Oriental Chairman Yu Minhong announced that he would lead hundreds of teachers to sell agricultural products live, which caused heated discussions on the Internet. At that time, some netizens said that these teachers could actually do cross-border e-commerce live streaming because they all spoke fluent English.

But it is not that simple. First, because the anchor faces foreign consumers, it is necessary to be fluent in English or the local language. Second, the essence of cross-border anchors is still sales, so sales ability is also essential.

Therefore, if you want to do a good job of cross-border live streaming, the anchor needs to have both foreign language skills and sales skills. This is also the reason why cross-border e-commerce sellers find it difficult to advance their cross-border live streaming business.

Searching for "TikTok anchor" on a recruitment website shows that in Shenzhen, the salary is about 6k~20k. In addition, according to Yan Guanghua, there are two main salary structures for TikTok English anchors. Part-time anchors are paid by the hour, 300~500 yuan per hour, and full-time anchors are paid by base salary plus commission. The base salary is usually 6k~12k, or 6k~15k, depending on ability and experience. It also varies in different regions. In Shenzhen, it is usually 6k~10k.

It can be seen that the salary offered by the sellers is not low, but according to their feedback, it is still difficult to recruit people.

In addition, the culture and habits of foreign consumers are different from those in China, and for anchors, there is also the problem of cross-cultural understanding. In addition, anchors need to have comprehensive qualities such as on-the-spot reaction and control ability.

But shrinking back is not a characteristic of Chinese sellers. Some sellers are now also working hard to overcome the talent dilemma and seize market opportunities.

On the one hand, they recruit experienced anchors from outside, and on the other hand, they train internal employees. On the other hand, they will also cooperate with foreign Internet celebrities. However, this is more suitable for big sales, because the cost is not low, and it is not easy to contact these Internet celebrities. Many times, the emails and messages sent are ignored.

Therefore, most sellers prefer the first two methods. At present, there are two main types of anchors recruited from outside, one is a foreigner who understands the local culture, and the other is a talent with foreign language skills. For example, Spaniard Lalo Lopez is an anchor serving a company in Beijing. When it comes to live streaming, Lopez said: "(For me) it is easier because we have a common cultural background." The person in charge of the company said that as the brand seeks overseas expansion, the company has been training foreign anchors, and currently has nearly 50 anchors.

However, some sellers now also cooperate with foreign students who are studying in China. For example, in April last year , a student from Uzbekistan who was studying e-commerce at Alibaba Business School of Hangzhou Normal University helped a Guangzhou outdoor products company sell goods through live streaming.

According to media reports, cross-border sellers such as Anker and SHEIN have more than 10 hours of cross-border live broadcasts almost every day, proving that sellers have not stopped when the dividends come.

In conclusion: There is no doubt that the "live streaming trend" has spread overseas, and some cross-border e-commerce platforms and social media are also actively developing live streaming sectors, but there is still a long way to go before maturity. Because although there are successful cases in China, after all, most foreign technology giants have only entered the live streaming field in 2020, and only TikTok can see some significant results now. Amazon, which has already launched the live streaming e-commerce function in 2019, is still slightly weak at present. However, the prospects of cross-border live streaming e-commerce are foreseeable, so it is not wrong for sellers to plan early.

TiTok

Cross-border live e-commerce

English anchor