Shopping for the Chinese New Year is a tradition in Chinese culture, and that tradition is now moving online as livestreaming revolutionizes the country's e-commerce industry.

(Photo/Economic Daily)

Taobao, an online shopping platform of Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba, scheduled nearly 100,000 livestreaming shows for the Chinese New Year holiday, a rise of over 200 percent.

"Livestreaming brings more compared with traditional online stores. The visual and sound effects it brings can stimulate buyers' desire to make purchases," said Wang Zhe, an executive with distribution company Meiri Haohuo, which is currently a leading supplier on Chinese short video platforms Douyin and Kuaishou. The company now works together with 2,000 influencers on these platforms, and sees a monthly sales growth of 40 percent to 50 percent on Douyin.

"With the arrival of the 5G era, livestreaming will be faster and in higher definition, allowing users to zoom in and out of videos to see more details of products. It is very helpful for displaying commodities," said Xuan De, general manager for content e-commerce at Taobao.

Livesteaming is expected to cover more areas and enhance the interaction between hosts and users, Xuan noted, adding that there will even be virtual reality and interactive livestreaming in the future.

Tai Ping, a 35-year-old livestreaming host who sells beef jerky in northern China's Inner Mongolia, extended his working hours during this Spring Festival season. He sold all his products in just six days.

Tai has built a 500-square meter plant with slicing, drying and roasting workshops, and demonstrates the production process on short video platforms. "By showing this process, I can gain more trust from my customers, so I will have more customer loyalty," the man said.