---
title: "Star Livestream Commerce: To Play or Not to Play?"
description: "Since 2020, an increasing number of celebrities have joined livestream commerce, but issues like lack of professionalism, data fraud, and high return rates have cast doubt on its effectiveness. Brands must carefully consider whether to enter this space, focusing on matching celebrity personas with product positioning and selecting appropriate products."
author: "林川"
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published: "2020-07-27"
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# Star Livestream Commerce: To Play or Not to Play?

> Since 2020, an increasing number of celebrities have joined livestream commerce, but issues like lack of professionalism, data fraud, and high return rates have cast doubt on its effectiveness. Brands must carefully consider whether to enter this space, focusing on matching celebrity personas with product positioning and selecting appropriate products.

**Click to read the original article for details**
**Since 2020, an increasing number of celebrities have joined livestream commerce. Kris Wu, Guan Xiaotong, Wang Han, Zhu Dan, Wang Zulan, Liu Tao, Chen He, Ye Yiqian, Xiao Shenyang, among others, have all tried their hand at livestream selling.**
But along with this trend, some celebrities lack professional attitude and adequate preparation, showing unfamiliarity with products and often serving as mascots or tools rather than professional hosts. This has led to issues such as fabricated sales data, inflated traffic figures, high commissions with high return rates, casting doubt and controversy on what seemed like a promising avenue.
Moreover, as more celebrities participate, **consumer attention is being fragmented, and they are shifting from novelty and support to rational consumption. The landscape of celebrity livestream commerce is quietly changing.**
How long can this trend last? Should brands enter this space?
**-01-**
**Celebrities 'Descend to Earth'**
**Partnering with Major Brands to Launch a Livestream Wave**
From counter clerk Li Jiaqi to 'Lipstick Brother No.1', from Taobao store owner Wei Ya to 'Livestream Queen'. Throughout 2019, behind the rise of two dominant Taobao head anchors was the quiet emergence of a hundred-billion-yuan market. Now, catalyzed by the pandemic crisis, livestream commerce has leapt to become the hottest sales model, with the market growing from hundreds of billions to trillions of yuan.
Such an efficient and successful business model naturally became a hot commodity. Led by Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya, both celebrities and internet influencers are keen on livestream selling.
But now, livestream commerce is gradually shifting from 'influencer-centric' to 'celebrity-centric'. During this year's 618 mid-year promotion, over 300 celebrities and artists entered livestream rooms, **signaling a new wave of celebrity livestreaming.**
In 2019, starting with Xinba's wedding inviting celebrities to sell goods, the touchpoints between celebrities and livestream commerce began to increase significantly. Subsequently, Li Xiang, Zhao Wei, Liu Tao, Jia Nailiang, Wang Feng, and Angelababy, more and more celebrities began entering livestream rooms.
On July 11, Jia Nailiang officially joined Suning as co-chief host of Suning Livestream, with employee number 20070001.
On July 13, the day before Jia Nailiang's Suning livestream, JD.com officially announced that renowned musician Wang Feng would exclusively join JD Livestream as 'Chief Livestream Officer for JD Flash Sales'.
On July 18 at 8 PM, Angelababy also made her livestream selling debut on Douyin.
Certainly, the rise of celebrity livestream commerce is inseparable from the fact that celebrities have more free time due to the pandemic and need to develop a second career. But the 'partnership' between brands and celebrities is more due to the **win-win** situation.
For brands, what they need most is the traffic and popularity that celebrities bring.
In this era, the dividend of internet traffic is nearly exhausted. The marginal cost and difficulty of acquiring customers have increased significantly compared to the past. How to gain new traffic has become a common challenge for all brands.
Therefore, besides collaborating with influencer anchors, brands must find alternative paths.
Celebrities are the obvious choice. Celebrities typically have a large fan base, considerable traffic advantages, and multiple exposure channels. Using celebrities to attract and retain users is the most direct and efficient way to acquire customers.
So, besides helping brands sell and convert, celebrities' endorsement of brand influence also gives brands considerable long-tail benefits.
Zebra Craft Beer, a beer brand established only three years ago, sold out 15,000 orders by participating in Liu Tao's Juhuasuan livestream. Moreover, there were repeat purchase demands after the livestream ended. "Fans left messages asking when we would return to Sister Tao's livestream, and hoped we would stock more next time."
At the same time, Zebra Craft Beer's Tmall flagship store fans grew from 1,000 to nearly 100,000.
So, **a qualified celebrity anchor can not only expand short-term sales but also enhance brand power, bringing new customer growth and user retention, with long-term benefits that cannot be ignored.**
On the other hand, through livestreaming, celebrities gain massive exposure, deepen communication with passersby and fans, and attract new followers.
In fact, **celebrities also need exposure,** otherwise, in the fast-moving entertainment and fan circles, becoming outdated is a matter of minutes.
In recent years, celebrities have popularized 'personas', usually down-to-earth ones, such as a 'warm man' or 'good husband' persona for male celebrities.
So, a celebrity working, clocking in, and doing OKRs like ordinary people is undoubtedly a good way to narrow the distance between them and the public and enhance interaction. **This approach not only enriches the celebrity's persona but also sustains fans' attention, thereby bringing continuous commercial value to brands—killing multiple birds with one stone.**
**-02-**
**Behind the Hype: A Mess**
**Repeated Failures**
As the saying goes, standing at the forefront of a trend, even a pig can fly. Celebrities flock to livestream rooms one after another, breaking historical sales records round after round, making them the first choice for brands.
But recently, the once-glorious livestream commerce seems to be 'unable to move forward'. Many brands say that inviting celebrities to livestream is less effective than influencers. **The drama of 'paying high fees to invite celebrities to sell goods, only to lose everything' is being staged repeatedly:**
At the beginning of this year, Li Xiang livestreamed to sell mink coats; 1.62 million people watched online but no one bought. Xiao Shenyang, with 17.43 million Weibo followers and 19.152 million Douyin followers, livestreamed to sell a liquor; over 20 orders were placed that night, but 16 were returned the next day. Ye Yiqian caused controversy after selling for a tea set brand due to low sales, and the livestream company refunded the full cooperation fee. Wu Xiaobo's livestream sold only 15 cans of milk powder.
Celebrity livestream commerce is supposed to be a win-win between celebrities and brands, but failures are frequent. **What's the problem?**
**First, celebrity traffic does not equal sales.**
As we all know, livestream rooms are primarily for selling goods, with chatting as a secondary activity. Celebrities, who are usually unseen and untouchable, entering livestream rooms to interact closely with fans will inevitably attract crowds.
Many netizens admit that they watch livestreams as variety shows, entering the room more to peek at celebrity gossip and privacy rather than to shop. Therefore, this traffic cannot be directly converted into sales.
Second, livestreams have no script, so celebrities' lack of professionalism cannot be hidden.
Many celebrities become famous not only through agency packaging but also through scripted maintenance. Livestreaming is different; all reactions are random and real. This unscripted performance exposes celebrities' lack of professionalism.
On June 15, Xinba and Kuaishou e-commerce spokesperson Zhang Yuqi co-hosted a livestream, which was full of awkward moments. After Zhang Yuqi left, Xinba bowed deeply to fans and said, "Today is the most difficult day in my (Xin Youzhi, Xinba's real name) livestream career!"
Most of the time, celebrities in livestreams simply urge everyone to buy, buy, buy, just for the high slot fees and commissions. In reality, they haven't actually used the products.
Especially those who haven't done their homework beforehand, when faced with product questions from fans, they stammer and can't answer. Faced with such unprofessional attitudes, many people won't pay for it. An unprofessional attitude not only diminishes the livestream effect but also affects the celebrity's own reputation.
**Furthermore, the celebrity's fan base may not align with the product's consumer base.**
Brands choose celebrities to sell goods mainly because of the huge fan traffic behind them. Once the fan group doesn't match the brand's core consumer group, it's like drawing water with a bamboo basket—all in vain.
So, instead of letting a large amount of costs go down the drain, brands might as well choose an influencer whose positioning highly matches the product's consumer group for promotion.
**-03-**
**Rational View of the Two Sides of Celebrity Livestreaming**
**Two Key Points for Entering the Game**
As merchants, it's natural to hope that celebrities can boost sales, but livestream commerce cannot be separated from the coordination of 'people, goods, and venue'. Although celebrities have an advantage in fan base, to continuously stimulate fans' purchase desire and successfully enter the game, brands must also do the following:
**1. Celebrity positioning must match product tone**
From a certain perspective, celebrity livestream selling is like a brand co-branding activity, aiming for win-win cooperation and mutual achievement.
When brands collaborate, they consider whether the tone is compatible, so it's even more important for celebrity livestreaming. If the celebrity's fan base doesn't align with the product's consumer positioning, then no matter how strong the celebrity's traffic advantage or how good the brand's reputation, consumers may not buy it.
Take Wu Xiaobo's new domestic product livestream failure as an example. As a financial writer and one of the 'Four Kings of Knowledge Payment', Wu Xiaobo's fan base is basically business people interested in his knowledge payment content. They hope to get workplace tips from him, not parenting advice.
Moreover, people who frequently watch livestream selling often want to buy high-quality, low-priced products. But the milk powder Wu Xiaobo chose to sell in his livestream was high-priced, which is not what the livestream audience is willing to spend on.
Liu Tao, on the other hand, received praise in her livestreams because she has a 'homely' persona, and the products she recommends are very much in line with the word 'homely'.
**2. Not all products are suitable for livestream selling; product selection is crucial**
Although e-commerce livestreaming has become a trend, not all brands and products are suitable for it. Product selection is very important, and both brands and celebrities should seriously consider this.
For example, not long ago, Liu Xiaoqing's livestream selling jadeite failed.
Jadeite is expensive, and identifying it requires not only visual inspection but also touch and professional knowledge. Even if everyone is impressed by Liu Xiaoqing's love for jadeite, in the livestream room, viewers cannot make correct judgments, so naturally few orders are placed.
Another example: earlier, when Luo Yonghao was livestreaming, there was an issue with expired crayfish. Additionally, when Luo Yonghao sold flowers, he received complaints due to substandard gift boxes and late delivery.
Therefore, when choosing celebrity livestream selling, brands must pay attention to product selection, check product quality and after-sales service, and consider whether it is suitable for livestream sales.
In summary, for brands to succeed in livestream selling, **they must understand the celebrity's positioning and style, and carry out refined operations in pre-screening products, communication, and promotion.** Additionally, brands should value every product and service in each livestream. Only then can they secure a place in livestreaming.
**-04-**
**Conclusion**
In this era of 'traffic is king', many brands regard celebrity livestream selling as a 'panacea' to boost sales and drive traffic. Brands hope to leverage celebrity traffic, and celebrities hope for continuous exposure. Both sides get what they need, which is logically sound.
But the huge contrast between traffic and transaction volume should wake up merchants.
**Celebrity livestreaming may seem lively, but it's not that simple in practice.** As more celebrities join livestream selling, the dividends brought by celebrity status will gradually diminish.
Some celebrities charge hundreds of thousands of yuan in slot fees for a product, but the transaction volume is only in the double or triple digits, with high return rates. Apart from possible 'traffic inflation' during the livestream, the inability to monetize traffic is a persistent problem in celebrity livestream selling at this stage.
More importantly, when celebrity livestream selling becomes the norm, audience standards rise. The era of selling goods just by showing your face is over. Consumers' motivation to order comes mainly from the product itself, and the anchor's professionalism and sales ability can only be a bonus.
Of course, although the prospects of celebrity livestream selling are still unclear, **recruiting celebrities to join the company has significant positive implications for brands' layout in livestream e-commerce. In the long run, the promotional value of celebrity livestreaming is conducive to brand equity accumulation.**
Celebrity livestream selling is certainly not impossible, but **how brands correctly leverage celebrity influence is crucial!**
Source: Brand Head (ID: ceozhiku), Author: Lin Chuan


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