Why livestream shopping took over China

Nearly 600 million Chinese consumers now buy through livestreams. The market hit 5.8 trillion yuan in 2024. To understand why, you have to see it from the shopper’s side.

The scale of it

Livestream shopping in China is mainstream. It is how a huge chunk of the population buys things now.

How big is it? iResearch puts the market at 5.8 trillion yuan in 2024. User penetration went from 4.9% in 2019 to 37.8% in 2024, bringing the total to close to 600 million regular livestream shoppers. In 2023 alone, Chinese platforms hosted over 110 million livestream sessions featuring more than 70 million products, with over 2.7 million active hosts.

Source: CIECC, Livestream E-commerce High-Quality Development Report 2024

And this is not passive viewing. According to iiMedia Research, 79.32% of short video and livestream users spend money on those platforms. A 2020 China Consumers Association survey found that 55.2% of regular livestream shoppers buy at least once a month.

79.32% of short video and livestream users spend money on those platforms; shopping is 51.80% of that spending. Source: iiMedia Research (艾媒咨询), 2025 China Short Video and Livestream Consumer Behavior Survey, May 2025. https://www.iimedia.cn/c400/105682.html

55.2% of regular livestream shoppers buy at least once a month, and 90.8% buy at least once every three months. Source: China Consumers Association (中国消费者协会), Livestream E-commerce Shopping Consumer Satisfaction Survey (5,333 respondents, February 2020), March 2020, carried in full by 100EC (网经社). https://www.100ec.cn/detail--6550827.html

That is not a trend. It is a fundamental shift in how Chinese consumers shop.

Why shoppers prefer it: five reasons

The easy explanation is “it is entertaining.” And sure, that is part of it. But if entertainment were the whole story, people would watch and not buy. The real reasons go deeper than that.

1. They can see the product for real

Anyone who has ever bought something online based on a photo knows the feeling when it arrives and looks nothing like the listing. Livestreaming cuts through that. The host holds the product, demonstrates it, tries it on, tests it live.

A 2020 China Consumers Association survey found three reasons behind 83.9% of the preference for livestream shopping: the rush-to-buy atmosphere of a live room, stronger social interaction, and products that look more real and direct.

Three reasons together account for 83.9% of the preference for livestream shopping: a rush-to-buy atmosphere, stronger social interaction, and more real, direct products. Source: China Consumers Association (中国消费者协会), Livestream E-commerce Shopping Consumer Satisfaction Survey (5,333 respondents, February 2020), March 2020, carried in full by 100EC (网经社). https://www.100ec.cn/detail--6550827.html

2. They get answers instantly

In a livestream, shoppers type questions into the chat and the host responds in real time. Does this run small? What is the fabric like? Is this safe for sensitive skin? This kind of real-time back-and-forth simulates talking to a salesperson in a physical store. Except you are doing it from your couch at 10 PM. That combination of convenience and human contact is extremely hard to replicate with product pages and chatbots.

Source: Commercial Economy Research; Cankao Wang, 2025

3. The prices are genuinely lower

This is not just perception. Brands offer livestream-exclusive discounts, bundle deals, and limited-time coupons that are not available on the regular product page. During the 2024 618 festival, livestream e-commerce sales reached 206.8 billion yuan, by Syntun’s count.

Livestream e-commerce sales reached 206.8 billion yuan during the 2024 618 festival, with Douyin first among livestream platforms. Source: Securities Daily (证券日报), reporting Syntun (星图数据) data, June 2024. https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2024-06-19/doc-inazhrmx7169177.shtml

4. They trust the host

The best livestream hosts in China are not salespeople. They are educators and trusted advisors. Oriental Selection built its brand around former teachers who explain products with humor, depth, and genuine expertise. Viewers come back to the same host not just for deals but because the relationship feels personal.

According to a 2020 China Consumers Association survey, nearly 70% of livestream shoppers say they will buy a product if the host recommends it and they like it. Another 22.7% say they will buy in most cases when the host recommends something. Try getting those numbers from a product detail page.

Nearly 70% of respondents said they buy when a host recommends something they like; 22.7% said they buy in most cases when a host recommends it. Source: China Consumers Association (中国消费者协会), Livestream E-commerce Shopping Consumer Satisfaction Survey (5,333 respondents, February 2020), March 2020, carried in full by 100EC (网经社). https://www.100ec.cn/detail--6550827.html

5. Social proof is happening live

When hundreds of people buy the same product in real time and the chat fills with “just ordered” and “already received mine from last time,” it changes how you feel about pressing the buy button yourself. Flash sales, countdown timers, and visible purchase volume create a fear-of-missing-out dynamic that static e-commerce simply cannot generate.

Who is watching

Demographic	Data
Age	80%+ were born in the 1980s or 1990s
Gender	64.6% female, 35.4% male
Location	47.6% in first-tier cities
Frequency	55.2% buy at least once a month; 90.8% at least once in three months
Viewing habits	69.57% are long-term active viewers; 4 to 5 views a day is the most common band (43.82%)
Shopping intent	52.5% browse with a general idea; 32% have a specific purchase target

Age, gender and city: iiMedia survey of livestream shoppers. Viewing habits: iiMedia survey of short video and livestream users. Frequency and shopping intent: China Consumers Association survey of 5,333 livestream shoppers, February 2020. Source: iiMedia Research (艾媒咨询), June 2025 and May 2025; China Consumers Association (中国消费者协会), March 2020, via 100EC (网经社). https://www.iimedia.cn/c1088/106477.html ; https://www.iimedia.cn/c400/105682.html ; https://www.100ec.cn/detail--6550827.html

One thing worth noting: the audience is getting older. Silver economy consumers (age 50+) are now the fastest-growing segment, with spending growing at a compound rate of 20.9% per year over the past three years.

Source: CAC, China New E-commerce Development Report 2025

What this means for brands

Whether you are a Chinese brand trying to outperform competitors, an international brand already selling here, or a new entrant testing the waters, livestream shopping is not optional. It is the single largest conversion channel in Chinese e-commerce.

Understanding the shopper’s mindset is the first step. They want to see the product demonstrated live. They want to ask questions and get immediate answers. They want a genuinely good price. They want to trust the person selling. And they want to see other people buying it at the same time.

For Chinese brands, the opportunity is in doing it better than everyone else. The format is familiar but most brands still run generic, low-effort livestreams. The ones investing in host quality, content strategy, and private domain follow-up are the ones pulling ahead.

For international brands, the opportunity is access. Livestreaming lets you test products, gather real consumer feedback, and build trust faster than any other channel available in China right now.

A well-run livestream can meet all of those needs at once. A static product page cannot come close. And that is why this format keeps growing.