Retailers in leather shopping mall benefit from live streaming
China’s National Bureau of Statistics has reported that consumers across the country spent more than $260 billion on physical goods online during the weeks of lockdown. It said this corresponded to an increase of 6% compared to the same period the year before.
National media reports say retailers in the specialist Haining Leather Centre shopping mall in Zhejiang province have been among the beneficiaries. In normal circumstances, consumers drive from hundreds of kilometres away to buy leather bags, garments and other products in Haining, which is known as Leather City. Lockdown put an end to that.
However, many the companies in the specialist mall have been able to capitalise on the increase in online sales by virtue of having embraced e-commerce before covid-19 hit. In 2018, a large number of them began to sell their products in the Alibaba online platform.
During weeks of restricted movement, some of these leather retailers were able to complete sales to consumers all over China through live streaming. They used online video channels to present the products they had in stock and viewers were able to buy them.
Shen Songying, who runs a leather garments factory and a store at the Haining Leather Centre told China Daily that 80% of her neighbours in the mall, like her, were selling goods to consumers through live online streaming.
She said this method was proving so successful, she was altering production plans in her factory to make sure she had enough stock of jackets and other garments she knows are particularly popular at the moment, thanks to the live streaming events.
