bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Minghe Hu

Tracy Qu

Li Jiaqi, one of China’s top live-streamers who goes by the nickname “lipstick king”, generated more than US$145 million in sales during the Singles’ Day shopping festival last November – but that does not mean brands can make money by hiring key opinion leaders (KOLs) like him to promote their products.
It cost Damian Maib 300,000 yuan (US$43,000) as a fixed fee and 25 per cent commission on sales to hire a popular live-streamer for one event on Douyin, the popular short video platform operated by ByteDance. The influencer also requested a 40 per cent discount on the products sold during the live stream.
“We really sold a lot of products, but we have not always been profitable … because we sold [them] for a very low price,” Maib said.
Maib, founder of the marketing firm Genuine German, based in Berlin and Shanghai, helps promote European companies in the Chinese market. He spends a couple of million yuan each month hiring KOLs in China to promote brands and products, mainly cosmetics and household goods, via live streaming.
“All of the big [KOLs] with a huge base of followers want to promise their fans the lowest price,” he said. “And they mostly have the power to bargain you down, so it quickly becomes a ‘take it or leave it’ deal.”
Homes, trucks and even rocket launches are sold via live streaming in China
The live shopping event, which lasted about five hours, generated 3 million yuan in revenue for the brand Maib represented but that was not enough to cover all the costs, such as logistics, platform fee and KOL payment.
China’s retail economy is now influencer-driven, with almost all online consumers buying products based on recommendations by their idols. Merchants – including many with little or no previous online presence – have flocked to live streaming to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as consumers have stayed inside on lockdown orders. The live-streaming market will be worth 961 billion yuan in 2020, according to an iiMedia report.
Maib is not alone. Although promotion fees vary depending on the product and influencer, the fixed fee for top influencers like Li Jiaqi and Viya ranges from 100,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan, and the commission fee is usually 20 to 30 per cent of sales, according to two people with direct knowledge of the industry.
“If merchants can’t make a large number of sales, or the price of the product is very cheap, it’s natural that merchants could lose money [even if they hire top influencers],” said Zhang Yi, chief executive and head analyst at iiMedia Research.
For live stream consumers, steep discounts are one of the reasons to shop with their favourite influencer.
Graduates with tech, live-streaming skills most in-demand in China’s job market
“Once Li Jiaqi was promoting a low-calorie latte, five for 38.5 yuan, while the price in the supermarket downstairs was 16 per cup, so I bought it,” said Beijing resident Maggie Li, a follower of the live-streaming anchor.
For 38-year-old Li, watching the shows has become a daily routine and even saves her time and energy because she does not have to go to brick and mortar shops on weekends when she needs to take care of the children and elderly in the family.
However, there is a downside. “You’re not buying things in a rational way,” said Li. “One day I suddenly realised I was spending too much money because I made 20 orders with live-streamers in one night.”
Some live-streaming hosts agree. “Because consumers think it is cheap, people rush to buy when they see everyone else buying,” said Yin Ran, 25, a Shanghai-based full-time live-streamer. “But after they purchase the product, they might realise they don’t need it any more.”
Yin, who live-streams for six to eight hours a day, said products sold in such shows have a high return rate, ranging from 30 per cent to 50 per cent in her own experience.

The huge traffic that live streaming draws has seen merchants rush into the market. According to a separate report by iiMedia, the total audience for the top eight streamers on Taobao Live, which is embedded in Alibaba Group’s Taobao e-commerce site, each surpassed 10 million from March to April. Alibaba is the parent company of South China Morning Post.
Viya, who is sometimes referred to as the live-streaming sales queen in China, had more than 168 million viewers on her channel while Li Jiaqi drew 134 million in the same period, according to iiMedia.
“Merchants use live streaming to drive sales, improve short-term user traffic and boost brand awareness in the long- term,” said Chen Tao, senior analyst at consultancy Analysys. “So it might not be so much about sales or profits, but more about long term building of a brand.”
China’s advertising industry issues rules for live streaming e-commerce
Working with KOLs on live streaming can also drive traffic to the brand's online store where some consumers may buy products at regular prices, said Maib from Genuine German.
“You see that the number of sales in our Tmall stores have been very high in the last 30 days [after the show],” he said, adding that merchants should not do too many live stream events with popular influencers because consumers will not buy at regular prices if they get used to the steep discounts.
The price war will reach a turning point when merchants are not willing to cut prices any more because it hurts their revenue, said Zhang from iiMedia.
Although hiring an expensive host may not always pay off, Chen from Analysys said using a KOL and marketing the brand via live streaming could be worthwhile for merchants because traditional marketing expenditures on newspapers and television are less cost-effective now.
“In the past, product prices included, for example, the cost of a sales channel and having a physical store, the salesperson’s salary and advertising fee. But now, some of that is converted into the cost of the live stream,” said Chen. “It is sustainable if it is cost-effective and can lead to better results.”
“You can't really get around working with KOLs and live streams at the moment,” added Maib. “It is possible to be profitable [when working with live-streamers] … but you need to be very careful who you select, and also what prices you will give to the KOLs so that your price structure will not suffer in the long run.”



Steep discounts and KOL endorsements have supercharged live-streaming sales in China, but are the merchants making money?

A host presents goods for sale online in the Gonoy Clothing Company studio in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, 20 May 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Li Jiaqi, one of China’s top live-streamers, goes by the nickname ‘lipstick king’. Photo: Handout

Ecommerce platforms such as Taobao have launched their live streaming channels with sellers offering everything from apparel to snacks. (Picture: Taobao Live)

Tech


For one show, it cost US$43,000 in fixed fees and 25 per cent commission on sales to hire a popular live-streamer to promote a European brand
The live-streaming market will be worth 961 billion yuan in 2020, according to an iiMedia report



China’s retail economy is now influencer-driven, with most online consumers buying products recommended by KOLs – but are the merchants making money?


Steep discounts and KOL endorsements have supercharged live-streaming sales in China, but are the merchants making money?

For one show, it cost US$43,000 in fixed fees and 25 per cent commission on sales to hire a popular live-streamer to promote a European brand The live-streaming market will be worth 961 billion yuan in 2020, according to an iiMedia report

For one show, it cost US$43,000 in fixed fees and 25 per cent commission on sales to hire a popular live-streamer to promote a European brand

The live-streaming market will be worth 961 billion yuan in 2020, according to an iiMedia report