Hangzhou Jiubao is no longer the "center of the universe" for e-commerce live streaming? Live streaming | E-commerce | Hangzhou Jiubao
Since 2020, this is the third time a journalist has visited a live broadcast base in Hangzhou, and a strange incident has occurred.
Three years ago, the reporter met Qian Yiming, the live streaming manager of a home textile enterprise, at the Xizi Global Industrial Park in Jiubao, Hangzhou. His factory and warehouse are both in Nantong, but he specifically found Jiubao and rented a live broadcast room. The anchor enters the venue, tries on pajamas and bedding, and the products sold during live streaming are shipped directly from Nantong. At that time, live streaming e-commerce was booming, and the company arranged dozens of customer service representatives, otherwise it would not be able to keep up with the speed of live streaming sales.
Three years later, Qian Yiming took the initiative to send a message to the reporter: I have been doing live streaming, why not come to the base to chat? Speaking of which, we only met once. Previously, reporters had asked him about the news of the live broadcast base but did not wait for a reply. At this moment, there was a sudden contact, so it was strange.
After arriving at the appointment, Qian Yiming finally understood and asked the reporter if it was possible to hold a special live broadcast on the official media account. He is no longer in the home textile industry and has switched to selling jewelry. The live streaming base has also moved to the Caitong Cultural Industry Park, which belongs to Jiubao. A certain scale of jewelry industry cluster has formed within the park, and well-known jewelry brands such as China Gold and Chaohongji have set up live streaming rooms here.
A set up live broadcast booth and lighting in a certain jewelry live broadcast base.
The business of live streaming e-commerce has undergone significant changes compared to three years ago. The main focus of the base is to cooperate with influencers and broadcasters, supply the base, and produce the broadcasters. After a live broadcast, the return rate for jewelry categories is generally 40%, and about 30% of actual sales revenue is used as the anchor's commission. During this period, the traffic of influencer anchors has been declining. "Some anchor platforms have more than 20 million fans, and more than 100 people came in as soon as the broadcast studio opened." Qian Yiming roast.
The traffic has decreased, and the park is not bustling either. Previously, it was difficult to find a single room, but now there are some vacant spaces available. The Jiubao Street, where the park is located, was once jokingly known as the "center of the universe" for e-commerce live streaming. During its heyday in 2020, within a radius of 3 kilometers, there were approximately 600 internet celebrity incubation and marketing platforms, over 10000 e-commerce anchors, hundreds of brand agents, and supply chain enterprises active in various entrepreneurial parks in Jiubao. According to data from April this year, Jiubao currently has 33 live streaming companies and anchor incubation institutions, and more than 2500 live streaming e-commerce talents.
In the vacated office area, there are still employee photos posted on a whiteboard, all of which are related to live streaming e-commerce positions such as anchor, operations, and field control.
Has Jiubao become deserted? The reporter contacted the person in charge of Xinhe Lianchuang Industrial Park again. We had talked twice, but this time he politely declined the interview. That is located in the core area of Jiubao, where several well-known e-commerce anchors have taken root. For example, for a period of time, this place was called "Viya's Mother's Home" by the outside world. The reporter decided to take a look at the Xinhe Lianchuang Industrial Park. The park sounds very noisy, with walls drilled, floors paved, and decoration noise spreading out from the buildings. The office areas on several floors that have been vacated are still idle; A live streaming e-commerce industry base originally occupied two floors, but now the first floor has been converted into a retail and warehouse for sports products; A poster was placed at the entrance of an influencer incubation institution, displaying the good performance of the anchor in promoting products. The reporter searched on the live streaming platform and found that the anchor's dynamic updates were only in September 2021
The vacant office building still bears the sign of "Double 11 Refueling" for 2021.
Qian Yiming analyzed that there may be two reasons. One is the changes in the live streaming e-commerce industry. The reason why Jiubao has become a gathering place for anchors is due to its inherent advantages. Less than 1 kilometer around the park is the old clothing wholesale market in Hangzhou, known as Sijiqing. A little further away, it can directly reach Haining Leather City and surrounding clothing processing factories. When live streaming sales first emerged, about 70% of live streaming rooms sold women's clothing, with a particular emphasis on fast updates and upgrades. At that time, the main focus was on influencers and influencers who had a certain fan base. Internet celebrity anchors went around to select products for live streaming, making it convenient for Jiubao to have a wide range of products to choose from, with a complete range of types, naturally forming an industrial cluster. However, later on, the live streaming e-commerce industry underwent a reshuffle, with brand merchants building their own live streaming rooms and more anchors selling goods using their official brand accounts, becoming pure laborers. Store anchors do not need to choose products, and live streaming has become a common channel for brand sales. It is difficult to highlight Jiubao's innate advantages.
In addition, in the past two years, Hangzhou's live streaming e-commerce map has been continuously expanding, invisibly dispersing the industries that were originally concentrated in Jiubao. Binjiang District is known as the first district of live streaming e-commerce in China, and multiple leading live streaming e-commerce institutions are located here. There are also a large number of influencers and broadcasters gathering in the core area of Qianjiang Century City in Xiaoshan District. Gongshu District is a rising star on the map and is more suitable for novice live streaming merchants. In recent years, Linping District has taken on many spillovers from Jiubao's live streaming industry, mainly focusing on clothing brands. "There are many live broadcast bases in Hangzhou with lower rent." Qian Yiming said, "The rent here in Jiubao is more than 2 yuan per square meter per day, but it may be less than 1 yuan in Xiaoshan." In addition, some talented anchors have accumulated enough fans two years ago and choose to go back to their hometown to broadcast live. The central and western cities have lower costs in all aspects and are also supported by policies.
The small tavern located in the Xinhe Lianchuang Park has a sign indicating that "live streaming e-commerce resources" are available for exchange.
According to insiders, from the beginning, Jiubao's business model had shortcomings, with a relatively scarce number of large brands settling in, many of which were small factory products. The competition for low-priced products without brands was too intense, and they did not have an advantage. Around 2016, when live streaming teams searched for Jiubao one after another, no one expected that this would usher in the next trend. At present, the halo of the live streaming e-commerce industry has faded, and there are no longer legends of wealth making in live streaming rooms. The "universe center" of live streaming e-commerce may also have to transform.
