Scan the QR code in the image to register "Like all internet celebrities, I will eventually become outdated, but I really haven't thought much or worried about such issues, just as Brad Pitt never worries about how to make himself handsome or more handsome." When talking with a reporter from China News Service's Jingwei about whether he worries about becoming outdated, Luo Yonghao, chief good-thing recommender at Make Friends, displayed his usual 'Luo-style humor.' After Make Friends moved its entire operations to Hangzhou's Binjiang district in April this year, Luo Yonghao has spent more time on the road. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are Luo Yonghao's live-streaming days; he spends at least three days a week in Hangzhou, and the rest of the time he is on business trips. According to people close to him, to pass the time, he also practices guitar on the road.

After this year's 618 shopping festival, some voices claimed that Luo Yonghao had lost his position as the 'No. 1 anchor on Douyin.' For example, on 618 day, Luo Yonghao's total sales from live-streaming were 13.3098 million yuan, while Li Jiaqi achieved 222 million yuan in sales in just six hours. Additionally, 'Mr. Dong's Jewelry' and 'Big Wolfdog Zheng Jianpeng & Yan Zhen couple' surpassed Luo Yonghao during this year's 618, becoming TOP1 and TOP2 on Douyin.

In response to this issue, Luo Yonghao gave his reply during an exclusive interview with China News Service's Jingwei on June 22. "We even considered taking a break during the 618 period. Because traffic during 618 is very expensive, for Douyin e-commerce anchors, heavy participation in 618 is not cost-effective in terms of input-output ratio. I only streamed for a short while myself," Luo Yonghao said.

His partner, Huang He, founder of Make Friends, said they don't really care whether they are No. 1 on Douyin; currently, Make Friends is more concerned about being able to sell goods without relying solely on Luo Yonghao's personal influence. "If nothing unexpected happens next month, our GMV should return to No. 1 on Douyin." Huang He believes that live-streaming e-commerce, as a new form of internet economy, has a very positive role in activating the market, promoting consumption, and providing convenience for people's lives.

Moreover, for emerging domestic brands, live-streaming e-commerce provides them with a very good low-cost promotion opportunity, allowing them to directly and quickly reach a large number of consumers, greatly shortening the brand incubation cycle.

(Luo Yonghao and Huang He during a live stream)

The following is the transcript of the exclusive interview with Luo Yonghao by China News Service's Jingwei (slightly abridged):

China News Service's Jingwei: In April this year, Make Friends moved its entire operations into the Hangzhou Binjiang Yunhu Live-Streaming Base, where there are many top anchors, such as Viya and Xue Li. With such strong competitors nearby, and the closer physical distance, has it affected your mentality or confidence?

Luo Yonghao: Actually, we didn't deliberately avoid competition, but objectively, we are indeed very different from other top anchors. This makes us rarely consider comparing ourselves with them or formulating targeted competitive strategies.

After moving to Hangzhou, benefiting from the industrial clustering advantages of the 'e-commerce capital,' it has become easier to recruit talent in related industries, and the efficiency of the supply chain has also improved significantly. So if there is any impact of moving to Hangzhou on our work, it is basically positive.

China News Service's Jingwei: On 618 day, you appeared very late, as if you didn't treat that day as an important occasion. After the live stream, there were voices saying that Luo Yonghao had lost the 'No. 1 anchor on Douyin' position. What are the facts? How do you respond to these voices?

Luo Yonghao: 618 is very important for JD.com and Tmall, but it is not a major festival for Douyin e-commerce. We even considered taking a break during the 618 period. Because traffic during 618 is very expensive, for Douyin e-commerce anchors, heavy participation in 618 is not cost-effective in terms of input-output ratio.

Last year, because we were newcomers, considering the overall national influence of 618, we participated. This year, based on overall considerations, we originally wanted to cancel it, but some old customers didn't want us to stop broadcasting during 618, so we finally did broadcast, but we didn't invest much, and I only streamed for a short while.

Additionally, we value the so-called 'green GMV' that is real and effective. Douyin may have the strictest GMV audit standards among all e-commerce platforms. Douyin's GMV calculation is based on the actual payment amount, not the order creation amount commonly used by most domestic e-commerce platforms, which counts the price of items merely added to the shopping cart as GMV.

What's more exaggerated is that many e-commerce platforms also have so-called 'guided transaction GMV.' For example, for a phone originally priced at 2,000 yuan, if a consumer pays a 100 yuan deposit, the GMV is counted as 2,000 yuan, which is 20 times the actual payment amount on Douyin e-commerce, showing serious inflation.

Another point is that when we do live-streaming sales, we don't use those highly performative, psychologically suggestive sales tactics, so our GMV has less inflation.

Many top anchors who are good at 'guiding transactions' have return rates exceeding 50%, while our return rate has always been maintained below 10%. This is also a data point that may not look good from a GMV perspective, but we actually care about it; it is one of the important criteria for us to judge whether the business is healthy.

China News Service's Jingwei: You have participated in some variety shows, and some fans commented that your performance on the shows was 'not greasy.' You also mentioned that there are non-greasy artists in China, such as Cui Jian, Da Zhangwei, and Pu Shu. Are non-greasy people and people with idealistic sentiments the same type? In the business world, are there entrepreneurs you consider non-greasy and admire?

Luo Yonghao: There is no necessary connection between being non-greasy and idealism, but objectively, the overlap does seem relatively high.

In the business world, of course, there are some entrepreneurs I consider non-greasy, and there are some I admire or even respect. But even if they are non-greasy and have a youthful spirit, they don't easily show it.

Entrepreneurs are different from artists; entrepreneurs showing their personality usually causes unnecessary trouble, especially in countries with traditional Asian culture. So many entrepreneurs choose to hide their personality in public. Since that's the case, I won't name them to praise them, to avoid causing them trouble. Let them appear dull and boring in the public eye.

China News Service's Jingwei: Now it seems that Luo Yonghao has no news to chase except for 'being subject to compulsory enforcement.' Do you agree with this evaluation? Do you worry that the first-generation internet celebrity will no longer be noticed by everyone?

Luo Yonghao: Although like all internet celebrities, I will eventually become outdated, I really haven't thought much or worried about such issues. After all, I am the only one among China's first-generation internet celebrities who has remained popular for 18 years and is still gaining momentum today.

So even when I'm idle and not working, I have more important things to consider. This is like Brad Pitt having many, many things to worry about, but how to make himself handsome or more handsome is definitely not something he worries about.

For me and my team, it's not difficult to create a topic of public concern at any time; it just depends on whether there is a need in work and business. Currently, we only want to focus on selecting products and selling goods, training young anchor teams, and improving supply chain capabilities. We don't want to stir up any controversy.

Although I work hard every day to repay debts, and the progress is very satisfactory, things like court compulsory enforcement are beyond my control. By the way, the next court compulsory enforcement is the one I mentioned about that investment institution forcing me to sign a rogue agreement; it should be executed before the end of this month. At that time, I expect another round of annoying noise and clamor. Just thinking about it is exhausting.

China News Service's Jingwei: What will the future of live-streaming look like? Facing normalized live-streaming, with less novelty, what innovations in live-streaming will Make Friends try? Besides live-streaming, what other businesses will Make Friends focus on developing in the future?

Luo Yonghao: Compared to innovations in live-streaming formats, we are currently putting more effort into deeply exploring the supply chain. We plan to cooperate directly with first-tier OEM factories for a large number of daily necessities, bypassing middlemen, to bring more good products and benefits to consumers in the live-streaming room.

As previously stated publicly, we will also open a training school for live-streaming anchors, but to ensure satisfaction, we are currently polishing the curriculum repeatedly, which requires more effort than originally planned.

The next stage of live-streaming e-commerce will definitely see the emergence of a group of top anchors in vertical categories, so we are also actively cultivating talent in this area.

Source: China News Service's Jingwei (ID: jwview) Author: Chang Tao

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