One thing we have seen over the years is that the trends in China change from time to time and these trends are later observed all over the world. However, it is seen that some of the things that work in China may or may not work in other parts of the world. For example, we have China’s e-commerce market which has now started live streaming its products for sales. This is a concept similar to Twitch where people live stream their products and can buy them from the stores. China’s Tmall marketplace had started this practice of live stream shopping and it is known that over 500 million users have embraced this idea.
Apple being one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world now wants to embrace this live streaming trend that is being followed in China. It is worth noting that after the US, China is Apple’s biggest market all over the world. According to a report, “Apple’s official store on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall posted a teaser about its first live streaming-shopping event, which kicks of at 7pm local time on Wednesday, saying it will include products such as iPhone 14 and iWatch”.
Along with this, Apple has also offered discounts on its latest and best phones such as the iPhone 14 Pro series. It is reported that “Apple’s Tmall store has cut the price of an iPhone 14 Pro with 128-gigabyte storage to 6,499 yuan (US$917), from the original 7,999 yuan, with the offer available Wednesday night, while its JD.com store is offering the same model for 6,498 yuan.”
It is worth noting that famous brands such as Apple and even luxury brands such as Prada, LV and Givenchy are considered conservatives and are not known to try anything new in the market for sales as they rely on their tried-and-tested models. However, these brands are also known to be trying out the new sales model of live streaming their products to boost sales. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, e-commerce grew 4 per cent and live shopping increased by “a few fold” in the Chinese market in 2022 sales of consumer goods dropped by 0.2%.
