Edited by: Tang Fei

During this year's 618 shopping festival, super live streamers have become increasingly低调.

Li Jiaqi's live streaming frequency has significantly decreased, Crazy Xiaoyangge did not promote 618 ahead of time, Xinba直言 "there will be fewer live streams in the future," and Dong Yuhui's appearance time in the live room is also decreasing.

Contrary to the cooling trend of celebrity live streams, store live streaming has become increasingly popular.

Store live streaming refers to the behavior of brands officially carrying out live streaming and promoting goods in their own live broadcast rooms. Simply put, it is brand merchants conducting live streams themselves, without relying on celebrities, influencers, or experts. Data shows that in 2023, the market share of store live streaming accounted for 51.8% of the total, surpassing the 48.2% of celebrity live streaming for the first time, and the proportion of celebrity live streaming is still declining. Platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu are all increasing their efforts in store live streaming.

On June 12, Xiaohongshu announced a set of latest data at the 618 media conference: the order volume of Xiaohongshu's 618 live streaming rooms was 5.4 times that of the same period last year, and the store live streaming GMV was 5 times that of the same period last year. Regarding this, Yin Shi, the head of Xiaohongshu's e-commerce operation, said that store live streaming has become a new growth engine for merchants during the 618 period.

Over the past year, Xiaohongshu's e-commerce ecosystem has undergone several adjustments. In early 2023, Xiaohongshu relied on celebrity live streaming, such as Dong Jie, Zhang Xiaohui, and Yi Nengjing, to explore live e-commerce business. By the end of August of the same year, Xiaohongshu announced its all-in strategy for "buyer e-commerce." In late May of this year, according to media reports, Xiaohongshu's merchant operation business and buyer operation business were merged to form an e-commerce secondary division, which will give priority to store live streaming.

Xiaohongshu, which has been struggling with commercialization, seems to be constantly searching for a breakthrough in the field of e-commerce.

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Store Live Streaming, Xiaohongshu's New Growth Pole?

Xiaohongshu's path to commercialization has been quite曲折. In the past, Xiaohongshu has undergone multiple attempts to monetize, including advertising, self-operated e-commerce, live streaming, and blog-based sales, but its business loop is relatively incomplete, and merchants face many uncertainties, which restrict Xiaohongshu's commercialization process. Since last year, Xiaohongshu has gradually explored a clear and effective business path in e-commerce.

In 2023, Xiaohongshu achieved its first profit - revenue of $3.7 billion and a net profit of $500 million, mainly due to high-margin advertising business and the transformation of its e-commerce model. According to official data, the number of merchants with annual transaction volumes exceeding 100 million yuan on Xiaohongshu increased by 500% year-on-year, and the number of merchants with transaction volumes exceeding 10 million yuan increased by 380% year-on-year. Among the rapidly growing e-commerce formats, live streaming is the main growth engine. Yin Shi said, "Live streaming is the most important carrier for Xiaohongshu's e-commerce, and it is an important development direction for Xiaohongshu's e-commerce." Xiaohongshu's live streaming e-commerce can be divided into two forms: buyer live streaming and store live streaming. Buyer live streaming refers to buyers such as hosts, celebrities, and creators selecting