Game Changers of E-Commerce

“李佳琦们”直播“带货”成为电商平台购物新趋势

LI JIAQI knows how to get an audience’s attention. “All you girls! All you girls!” the 27-year-old shouts during his live-streaming marathon the Sunday evening ahead of this year’s Double Eleven Shopping Festival.

Over the next six hours, Li presents a mix of products to his viewers, ranging from facial essences (精华) to velvet (天鹅绒) pillows. Each time, he briefly introduces the new item and then follows up with a direct sales pitch (话术): “Buy it — just buy it! It looks super, super, super good!”

Li’s live stream appears simple and low-budget compared with Taylor Swift’s headline show at the evening party. However, the online influencer probably had a greater impact on this year’s festival than the American pop star. More than 36 million people tuned in to watch Li sell his wares that evening. In the month leading up to the shopping festival, Li’s promotion drove over one billion yuan in sales on Taobao Live.

Companies have been using online influencers to promote products on Chinese e-commerce platforms for a few years now. In 2018, Taobao Live had a turnover (营业额) of over 100 billion yuan, a 400 percent increase over the previous year. The popularity has continued to grow over the past 12 months.

The rise of commercial live streaming is partly based on convenience. Consumers can buy any product during live streaming with just a couple of taps and swipes (刷). Without live streaming features, they may call off the purchase if an item description does not provide enough information.

Women aged between 25 and 35 make up the majority of live stream viewers. They see the live-streamer as a powerful influencer as well as a peer they can trust. Buying products based on the recommendations of those they have been following for some time is a choice they have learned to trust.

When all else fails, nothing beats discounts. To attract a larger customer base, brands will surprise viewers with limited-time discounts or lucky draws (幸运抽奖). Those tricks help to persuade consumers to shop through live streaming as they are guaranteed to buy products with better deals.

Despite that, several gaffes (失态行为) have emerged recently in which live-streamers were accused of misleading consumers by promoting overrated products. Li himself was involved in an embarrassing incident. He attempted to fry an egg on a “nonstick pan” during a live stream, only to find the egg glued to the bottom of the pan.

For now, there is ambiguity (不明确) over how live-streamers should take responsibility for their broadcasts. However, consumers are quick to make judgements. “I don’t plan to stop watching Li’s live streams, but I’ll check his recommendations and do my own research instead of making the purchase straightaway,” said an online consumer.

（选自Sciencemag）

1. According to the article, which of the following statements about Taobao Live is true?

A. It is the first e-commerce platform launched in China.

B. It sold 20 billion yuan worth of product in 2017.

C. It is targeted at middle-aged Chinese women.

D. It has gained in popularity since last year’s Double Eleven.

2. According to the article, why does live streaming work so well in selling a product?

A. ①②③

B. ①②④

C. ①③④

D. ②③④

① Because e-commerce platforms are strictly supervised by the government.

②Because detailed information about the product is provided during livestreaming.

③ Because influencers are believed to make an honest evaluation of the product.

④ Because consumers are usually able to buy the product at a lower price.

3. What can we infer from the article?

A. Li Jiaqi became an online influencer of international fame after this year’s Double Eleven.

B. Commercial live streaming has discouraged consumers from making impulse purchases.

C. Recent live-streaming gaffes might urge the government to pay more attention to e-commerce platforms.

D. Li Jiaqi might have lost a large number of followers after he failed to promote a so-called nonstick pan.

译文：

李佳琪知道如何引起观众的注意。 “你们所有的女孩！你们所有的女孩！这位27岁的年轻人在今年双十一购物节之前的周日晚上的直播中大喊大叫。

在接下来的六个小时中，李佳琪向观众展示了一系列产品，从面部精华到天鹅绒枕头。每次，他都会简要介绍新商品，然后跟着直接推销：“买，买！看起来超级好，超级好！”

与晚宴上泰勒·斯威夫特的头条新闻相比，李佳琪的直播显得简单且预算低。但是，与美国流行歌星相比，在线影响者对今年的音乐节影响可能更大。当晚有超过3600万人收看李佳琪出售他的商品。在购物节的前一个月，李佳琪的促销带动了淘宝直播的销售额超过10亿元。

几年来，公司一直在使用在线影响者在中国电子商务平台上推广产品。 2018年，淘宝直播的营业额超过1000亿元人民币，比上年增长400％。在过去的12个月中，受欢迎程度持续增长。

商业实时流媒体的兴起部分是基于便利性。消费者只需轻点几下即可在直播期间购买任何产品。如果没有实时流功能，则如果商品说明不能提供足够的信息，他们可能会取消购买。

直播观众中，年龄在25至35岁之间的女性占大多数。他们将直播者视为强大的影响者以及可以信任的同伴。根据已遵循一段时间的建议购买产品是他们学会信任的选择。

当所有其他方法都失败时，没有比折扣更重要的了。为了吸引更大的客户群，品牌将通过限时折扣或幸运抽奖为观众带来惊喜。这些技巧有助于说服消费者通过实时流媒体购物，因为可以保证他们以优惠的价格购买产品。

尽管如此，最近还是出现了几种失态行为，其中流媒体直播者被指控通过宣传高估产品来误导消费者。李佳琪本人卷入了一场尴尬事件。他尝试在直播中在“不粘锅”上煎鸡蛋，却发现鸡蛋粘在锅底。

目前，直播者应如何对自己的广播承担责任尚不明确。但是，消费者很快就会做出判断。一位在线消费者说：“我不打算停止观看李佳琪的直播，但我会检查他的建议并进行自己的研究，而不是直接进行购买。”

背景信息：

Live advertising

'Live+E-mall+Wanghong' is a new advertising mode in Wanghong economy. This kind of advertising mode can create a platform for followers and audiences to communicate with Wanghong. The advertising can be integrated into the content of program like a placement, so the advertising is easier to be accepted by customers. For example, in 2016, Baicaowei (百草味), a snack company, compared with sales in the last year, increased 5 times sales during the 618 shopping festival, because they cooperated with a famous Wanghong called Shenman (沈曼) who is from YY, one of largest live platforms in China.

610/5000

直播打广告

“ Live + E-mall + Wanghong”是网红经济中一种新的广告模式。 这种广告模式可以为追随者和受众创建一个与网红进行交流的平台。 广告可以像展示位置一样集成到程序的内容中，因此广告更容易被客户接受。 例如，2016年，一家零食公司百草味与618年购物节期间的销售额相比增长了5倍，这是因为他们与来自 YY，中国最大的直播平台之一。

单词：

1. accuse

v. (~ sb. of doing sth.) to say that you believe sb. is guilty of a crime or of doing sth. bad 控告，指责

e.g. The surgeon was accused of neglecting his duties.

2. embarrassing

adj. making you feel ashamed, nervous or uncomfortable 令人尴尬的，使人难堪的

e.g. It’s embarrassing to be caught telling a lie.

→ embarrass v. 使尴尬，使窘迫

答案：1.B 2.D 3.C

时事命题阅读理解：“李佳琦们”直播“带货”成为电商平台购物新趋势 Game Changers of E-Commerce