Can Richard Liu's live streaming support JD.com's content ecosystem?

Source | Dongge's E-commerce Insights
Author | Jin Shan

Richard Liu has "personally" stepped into the livestreaming arena.

At 6:18 PM on April 16, Richard Liu's digital avatar, "Procurement Brother Dong," made its debut livestream. It appeared in JD.com's home appliances and JD Supermarket procurement livestream rooms. The timing and product discounts were also a warm-up for the upcoming "618" shopping festival.

Although "Procurement Brother Dong" was only online for half an hour, the livestream's performance was surprisingly impressive.

According to JD Supermarket, the AI digital avatar attracted over 10 million viewers in 30 minutes. Within nearly an hour, viewership exceeded 20 million, with the average viewer stay time being 5.6 times longer than usual. In just 40 minutes, the livestream generated over 100,000 orders.

With Richard Liu personally stepping in, can JD.com's livestreaming succeed this time?

JD.com Can't Let Go of Content

"Recently, I've been learning livestreaming techniques from JD Supermarket's procurement hosts every day. Everyone says, 'Brother Dong, no matter how smooth your talk is, it's better to slash prices to the bottom.' Right now, JD.com's '100 Billion Agricultural Subsidy' campaign is ongoing, and I can only say JD Supermarket is the cheapest," Procurement Brother Dong said during the livestream.

Image source: Internet

Throughout the livestream, "Procurement Brother Dong" distributed multiple rounds of red envelopes and "1-cent free shipping 福利品." The livestream featured daily essentials like edible eggs, yogurt, and milk, as well as JD.com's strong suit—home appliances, such as the Hisense Laser TV StarLight S1.

Although "Procurement Brother Dong" was criticized for abrupt voice changes, occasional lagging，抢先发话， and overly flat emotions, making it feel somewhat soulless, it was replaced by 真人采销直播 after about half an hour. However, Richard Liu himself has rarely appeared in public recently, and the discounted prices in the livestream still attracted many consumers to place orders.

According to JD.com, the livestream generated over 100,000 orders in 40 minutes.

The technology behind Procurement Brother Dong is powered by JD Cloud's self-developed Yanxi large model. Reports indicate that to recreate the most authentic "Brother Dong," the technical team fed the model speeches, casual conversations, and even Richard Liu's travel experiences to optimize it，最终形成现在的 AI 数字人 "采销东哥." Based on the livestream footage, there's still significant room for improvement in the digital avatar's 形象。

JD.com's major moves this year highlight its intense focus on content 生态. In mid-March, JD.com identified "three 必赢之战 for 2024": content 生态，开放生态， and 即时零售， with content 生态 taking top priority. On April 10, JD.com announced it would invest 1 billion yuan in cash and 1 billion in 流量 to attract 原创短视频 authors and 优质内容机构。

JD.com's heavy investment in content 生态 reflects its lack of 流量. It aims to 吸引消费者 spend more time on the JD app through 优质内容 and livestreams, ultimately converting them into orders.

Lacking a Top 主播

JD.com has never had its own "Dong Yuhui."

Top 主播 like 辛巴 and 小杨哥们 are gradually 退出. If JD.com wants to develop its content 生态， it must cultivate and support its own 主播。

After the incident of calling out Li Jiaqi, JD.com's procurement livestream rooms went viral, revealing a potential path for livestreaming development. During Double 11, JD procurement livestreams attracted a staggering 380 million viewers and sold over 3 million products. Their "no 坑位费" and "no 佣金" approach maintained healthy low prices.

Traditionally, consumers on JD.com and other 货架电商 platforms have clear purchase intentions and leave after buying. In contrast，抖音 operates on 兴趣电商 logic, where consumers initially have no purchase intent but are persuaded by 主播's introductions.

The 主播's persona, consumer trust, and 全网最低价 are key to completing orders. While AI 数字人 are cost-effective and can livestream 24/7, they lack "人情味" and fail to meet emotional needs, often serving only as supplements to 真人主播。

JD.com has missed the golden era of livestreaming 电商. At this stage, there's no need to 复制淘宝 or 抖音's paths.

JD.com's strengths lie in home appliances and 3C products, which have higher decision-making costs, making it harder to achieve 持续爆单 like 服装百货. Livestreaming can 辅助商品讲解 and 互动答疑。

Back in 2020, Xu Lei stated in an interview that livestreaming would become a standard feature for all platforms but wouldn't be necessary for every consumer or product—only 特定场景 and 特定商品 would benefit.

JD.com has recently begun supporting 第三方商家 with 流量 and resource 平权. Livestreaming could also provide opportunities for 中小商家. Using the same model to create 数字人 for livestreaming could 降本增效 and increase exposure, even beyond JD.com's platform.

Having a "一号位"数字人 livestream while 真人 staff handle 引流 could 开创 new 玩法。

JD.com's content 生态 is still in its early stages, with limited 流量. Leveraging Richard Liu's IP to attract 流量 could also 活跃 other brand livestream rooms.

Regardless, Richard Liu's digital avatar has already brought exposure to JD.com's livestreaming. Many consumers have been drawn to JD livestreams, even asking when "Procurement Brother Dong" will return.

货架电商 is now 补课 "content." Whether JD.com can boost sales through content 生态 remains to be seen.

References:

1. "Dingjiao One, Can Richard Liu's Livestreaming Save JD.com?"

2. "Yike Business, Is JD.com Too Late to Join the Livestreaming E-commerce Wave?"

3. "China News, Richard Liu Steps In, But 辛巴 and 小杨哥们 Are Stepping Out"