Dozens of livestreams to boost consumption

Shanghai will host dozens of livestreaming events in the coming month as an extension of previous shopping season and sales campaigns to boost consumption. 

Singles Day on November 11 was seized by e-commerce giant Alibaba and turned into a major shopping festival, and the occasion has been discharged adopted by other online and offline retailers to evolve into a multi-week promotional event. 

In the first nine months of the year, Shanghai’s online physical goods sales totaled 491.8 billion yuan (US$72.3 billion), up 12.6 percent from a year earlier.

Shanghai is also drawing up measures to push forward its livestreaming e-commerce sector to encourage innovative business models by allowing convergent development of various industry players, according to Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce. 

In April, Shanghai published an action plan to promote development of the online economy, focusing on 12 areas that include health care, financial services, exhibitions and Internet-related industries.

The city has become a role model in combining online and offline resources, and local brands and retailers have adopted the latest livestreaming formats to connect with online shoppers. 

Shanghai has taken the online new economy as an important development direction, fully supporting the growth of the next generation of Internet enterprises as a strong driving force in the city’s economic development. 

District-level government authorities and major e-commerce players such as JD, Suning, Bailian Group, Freshippo vow to link consumers with their latest offerings, including exhibits that will be displayed at the third China International Import Expo next month. 

Tens of thousands of livestreaming sessions will be available in the next few weeks on Suning which not only feature the company's executives and top online hosts but also shopping assistants at its shops to fully leverage their expertise and knowledge of specific products. 

Local retail conglomerate Bailian Group will open a flagship store on Alibaba's retail site Tmall and offer discounts for shoppers.  

Greenland Global Commodity Trading Hub, an exhibition and trading service platform for the import expo, will feature CIIE exhibits such as personal-care items and home appliances.