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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Business -> 
Foreigners join China’s livestream sales army
    2020-11-10  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

LATE at night, Lalo Lopez heads to a small Shanghai studio for a livestream, punting Chinese products from cycling shorts to vacuum cleaners, to Spanish speakers around the world.

The 33-year-old Spaniard, who describes himself as an artist, DJ and YouTuber, is in the vanguard of the growing ranks of foreigners hired by Chinese firms to extend the country’s livestream sales mania beyond its borders.

By some estimates, livestream shopping is a near US$70 billion industry in China, attracting influencers who scour markets and malls for items to peddle to live audiences via social media.

Once an obscure form of shopping, livestreaming is predicted to change the habits of global consumers, whose footfall has already headed from the high street to online marketplaces.

Buoyed by the success of livestreams at home, Chinese companies crave bridgeheads for their goods overseas.

Enter hosts such as Lopez, who has lived in China for around nine years and was approached by Beijing-based marketing firm Linkone Interactive after it saw videos he posted on YouTube and Instagram.

“When I speak, I look at the product through my culture, through my experience,” said Lopez, whose streams can attract up to 15,000 viewers.

The medium allows him to answer viewers’ questions on everything from clothing and household appliances to gadgets in real-time, while entertaining them with trivia and flamboyant sales patter.

In one livestream, Lopez appears wearing a pink bathrobe over his regular clothing as he demonstrates using a handheld vacuum cleaner, at one point testing it on his hair.

“It’s easier (for me) because of the cultural background we share,” said Lopez, who earns up to 1,500 yuan (US$226) per session, referring to his foreign customers.

The pioneering livestreamers are a diverse mix of traders, with Polish speakers selling eye massagers and Italian speakers flogging lighting for selfies.

(SD-Agencies)

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