It’s no wonder that, with people confined to their homes and more businesses moving online due to COVID-19, video live streaming has become an integral means of being entertained and getting some degree of personal connection. According to iiMedia Research, the total number of video live streaming users in China is projected to reach 526 million this year, up from 504 million in 2019. 

In late 2016 and early 2017 there were over 200 mobile apps in China that had live streaming features, and there are likely many more than that now. With so many platforms competing for users’ attention, it can be difficult to work out where to focus your video live streaming efforts. Here are some of the key platforms you should be aware of:

Taobao Live

Taobao Live is the video live streaming arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which users can access within Taobao and Tmall. An early adopter and now indisputable leader in the e-commerce video live streaming space, Taobao Live continues to dominate. According to Taobao Live’s latest figures, the gross merchandise volume generated by the platform grew by 150% per year for three years in a row. 

And Taobao Live shows no signs of slowing. In response to the COVID-19 lockdown, Taobao Live waived service fees for brick-and-mortar merchants to join its platform. As a result, the number of merchants using Taobao Live for the first time increased by 719% compared to the previous month.

That means, of course, that is an extremely crowded marketplace. Taobao hosts more than 4,000 live streamers, who generate 150,000 hours of content daily. Trying to be heard above this noise, therefore, could be a challenge for lesser-known brands. That being said, unlike entertainment platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, users on Taobao Live are there to shop, so they will likely be far more receptive to brand messaging.

Douyin

Having taken China, and then the world, by storm, Douyin (known in the West as TikTok) is China’s hottest short video app, with more than 400 million daily active users. According to a report by QuestMobile, livestreaming consumed 28.2% of Douyin’s traffic in February, up from 24% in January. 

Douyin is looking to take on Taobao Live in the live streaming e-commerce space – according to a survey of 5333 users by the Consumer Association, 70% said they used Taobao for shopping, while Douyin was the second-most-preferred platform, at 57.8%. Douyin is disadvantaged, though, in that its e-commerce capabilities are not quite as seamless as its competitors. While on Douyin users can include e-commerce links and product banners in their videos, and they can have product pages within the app, to complete the transaction, users need to be directed to another retailer, whether that’s Taobao, Tmall or JD.com. 

That being said, Douyin are clearly looking to improve their e-commerce capabilities, and their huge userbase make them a formidable player. 

Kuaishou

Kuaishou is Douyin’s biggest rival in China, with 300 million daily active users. Already, 20 billion videos have been uploaded to Kuaishou, making it the largest short-video content platform by the number of videos in the world. Kuaishou’s userbase differs to Douyin in that it is more popular in lower-tier cities, small towns and rural villages.

Another key difference is the way in which the platforms push content to users. Douyin prioritises virality, meaning that 80–90% of the content Douyin users see is popular content from unknown accounts. Kuaishou, however, is more focused on building relationships, with 40–50% of the content users see being from accounts the user is already following. This means content is less skewed towards KOLs with the largest number of followers, giving users and smaller KOLs a better chance of being seen and going viral.

This relationship-building has been shown to translate to sales – according to a report by Frees Fund, Kuaishou’s e-commerce conversion rate is 5 to 10 times higher than Douyin’s. 

Recently, Kuaishou have also announced a strategic partnership with JD.com, allowing Kuaishou users to purchase JD products without having to leave the app. Though it currently trails behind Taobao Live and Douyin in terms of live-streaming e-commerce market share, it is definitely one to watch.

WeChat

Earlier this year, WeChat integrated video live streaming features into its mini program platform and made this feature available to all businesses. This integration means viewers can click directly on links in the live-streamed video, which will direct them to the brand’s mini program – not dissimilarly to Taobao Live. Though WeChat are relative latecomers to the live-streaming game, their enormous userbase makes them serious contenders. There may also be scope for brands who jump on the trend early to gain a bigger following quickly due to the relative lack of competition.

Other players to watch

While these four are some of the biggest players in the game, there are other live streaming platforms that are also worth keeping an eye on.

Pinduoduo: An e-commerce platform that became the fastest-growing app in China’s history due to its “group buy” model, Pinduoduo is looking to video live streaming to help grow its market share. In January 2020, they launched a live streaming tool called Duoduo Livestreaming, allowing users to become live streaming “partners” to promote goods on the platform, and earn themselves a commission in the process.

JD Live:  Like Taobao, Tencent-backed JD.com pioneered the combination of live streaming and e-commerce, though in recent years they have been well and truly outstripped by Alibaba’s Taobao in terms of sales. Last Singles’ Day, for example, Alibaba captured 66% of sales, while JD.com had a share of 17%. JD Live works very similarly to Taobao Live, allowing a seamless integration of video live streaming and e-commerce.

Baidu: In May 2020, tech giant Baidu announced they would be investing $70.3 million into the live-streaming sector. Though it lags quite far behind rivals like Douyin and Kuaishou, they hope to catch up by using data from its search engine to better target consumers. Watch this space.