This startup merges live video and ecommerce, and it’s raising big money from Baidu

China’s ecommerce sector is crowded. There’s no denying that. Even in a niche space like mobile international ecommerce, where apps help Chinese buyers access high-quality products from overseas, competition is fierce. If you want to take on that market, you’d better have a good hook.

Chinese mobile ecommerce startup Bolo.me has one: live streaming.

In China, as elsewhere, live streaming web and mobile video is used primarily for gaming and entertainment. China’s top pro gamers make millions streaming their games online, and China’s top video sites offer everything from English Premier League soccer matches to the Spring Festival gala via live stream so that net users can enjoy them as they happen. In ecommerce, though, live streaming video technology isn’t really a factor at all.

A stream on Bolo.me: the video is on the top of the screen, with links to buy featured products below. The live chat window is another tab that replaces the featured products when clicked.

Live streaming ecommerce

Bolo.me wants to change that. The startup’s mobile platform lets users purchase foreign products and have them shipped directly to China, but the twist is that those products are presented by hosts on interactive live streams. If, for example, you’re interested in Japanese snacks, you can watch a live stream with one of Bolo.me’s presenters inside the snack shop, introducing and discussing various products. If you’ve got a question, you can use the text chat to get a live response from the presenter. And when you’re ready to buy, you can (of course) do that from right within the app. Past live streams (including chat logs) are also saved so that even if you don’t catch the live stream you can still check out the goods and see what questions and comments other users had.

These streams can be long, and one 30 minute broadcast might only include a few products, so Bolo.me definitely isn’t the efficient way to shop if you already know what you want. But for those who don’t, or for those who just enjoy a vicarious window-shopping look into the products available in other cities, Bolo.me offers a much more personal, interactive shopping experience than any other ecommerce platform I know of.

The importance of that shouldn’t be underestimated. It was Alibaba’s awareness of the Chinese fondness for making a personal connection when shopping that (among other things) allowed Taobao to beat eBay in the Middle Kingdom. Bolo.me’s video live streaming feels a lot more personal and interactive than Taobao’s text chat window. Of course, there’s no way a niche ecommerce startup is going to challenge for Taobao’s crown. But if I were the founder of one of the other mobile overseas ecommerce startups, I might be a little worried.

Big numbers

If the numbers Bolo is sharing publicly are accurate, the startup is definitely off to a strong start. The app claims that since its July 1 launch, it has broadcast nearly 26,000 hours of streaming video, showcasing 1,867 different products and generating 30,801 orders.

Certainly, investors feel that Bolo.me is onto something. Last week, the startup closed a series B round of US$30 million led by Baidu, with investment from Share Capital and Korea’s LB Investment, among others. Baidu will also reportedly explore a business collaboration of some kind with Bolo.me. Exactly how that will play out is unclear, but the two companies do have a bit of a connection already, as Baidu acquired Bolo.me founder Zhang Zhengdong’s previous startup back in 2013.

Bolo.me currently only features a few presenters and shoppers in New York, Tokyo, and Seoul, so there’s plenty of room to expand geographically and in terms of product offerings. With US$30 million now in the bank, expect Bolo.me to do just that.

Would you watch a live stream to learn more about the products you buy online? Do you wish your favorite ecommerce platform was interactive like this?