TikTok rival Kuaishou continues investing in livestreaming ecommerce

It aims to help more than 100,000 new businesses achieve 1 million yuan (US$146,000) in annual sales on its platform, according to a statement.

It will also build over 100 related industrial bases across China, train over 10,000 livestreamers, and host more than 1 million ecommerce livestreaming sessions during the period.

The development comes after Kuaishou announced in June that it would invest 3 billion yuan (US$439 million) to build a livestreaming ecommerce headquarters in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province. The company aims to use it as the base of “multi-channel networks, online celebrities, and brand owners.”

According to Yipeng Zhang, head of Kuaishou’s ecommerce marketing center, 5G technology, augmented reality, virtual reality, and big data-driven algorithms will play key roles in improving the quality of ecommerce livestreaming sessions.

With the continued development of logistics and digital payment systems in the country, Zhang notes that people from remote areas will likely become the users of its ecommerce services in the future.

The company claims to have more than 100 million daily active users for its ecommerce services, nearly 45% of whom are based in first- and second-tier cities.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.83 yuan.