The 27-Year Old Live Streamer Who Sold $1.7 Billion Worth of Goods in 12 Hours

China's livestreaming star Austin Li Jiaqi – also known as the "Lipstick King" sold about $1.7 billion worth of goods in 12 hours.

This happened in Li's livestreaming for Alibaba's Taobao shopping platform in China's shopping season. What's more interesting is that there are still three more weeks to go for China's annual mega shopping event.

Li, who earned his nickname 'Lipstick Brother' by trying on various makeup products on his show, pre-sold 12 billion yuan in products. He sold a wide variety of items ranging from Shiseido Co. lotions to Apple AirPods, according to preliminary data.

According to Forbes, Austin Li Jiaqi currently has more than 7 million fans on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo and 35 million fans on the video-sharing app TikTok. Li is only 27 years old, and has already become a household name among China's fashionistas in only two years.

Livestreaming is part variety show, part infomercial, and part group chat. Livestreaming has gained wide acceptance in China, especially since the pandemic started.

At a time when consumer entuhsiasm is rampant in China, livestreamers are getting more and more piece of the pie. China's middle class has started showing its hunger for consumer goods and products, and both Chinese and international companies are betting on the rise.

References:
Business Insider
Business Standard
Bloomberg
Forbes