Alibaba Gets A Boost Ahead Of Its Shopping Festivals; Livestreaming Sales King Reappears After 3 Months

Alibaba Group Holding Limited's BABA famed live streaming sales influencer Li Jiaqi reappeared on screens, ending an over three-month-long absence. 

Jiaqi was known for his live-streaming channel on Alibaba's Taobao Marketplace, where he sold products from cosmetics to food for brands such as L'Oreal, Reuters reported. 

Jiaqi was cut off abruptly, mid-show, on the eve of the anniversary of the country's Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 3, after he promoted an ice cream product decorated as a tank.

He reappeared for roughly two hours with little advance notice, spreading the news by word of mouth. Taobao users paid nearly 30 million visits to his channel in the first hour.

Among the 26 products he marketed were modestly priced ones, including mobile phone holders and rolls of garbage bags, most of which quickly sold out as viewers flooded the screen.

In 2021, he sold goods worth $1.9 billion in one session. Jiaqi's return is favorable for upcoming big shopping festivals such as Alibaba's Singles' Day, the world's biggest online shopping fest known as Double 11, said Jacob Cooke, CEO of an e-commerce consultancy.

"Given Austin Li's popularity among consumers, his return gives Alibaba an enormous boost heading into 11/11," he said.

Alibaba reported first-quarter FY22 flat revenue growth year-on-year to $30.69 billion. The China commerce segment declined by 1% Y/Y to $21.19 billion.

The online physical goods GMV for Taobao and Tmall, excluding unpaid orders, recorded a mid-single-digit year-over-year decline due to the Covid-19 resurgence.

Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.11% at $87.57 on the last check Tuesday.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons