JD.com joins Tencent to bring the world of e-commerce to China’s biggest e-sports league
- The convergence of e-sports and e-commerce is another example of Chinese internet companies trying new ways to monetise their enormous web traffic
- E-sports revenue in China grew 25 per cent year on year to reach 117.5 billion yuan (US$16.6 billion) in 2019
The retail unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has signed a strategic partnership with Tencent’s marquee e-sports league, King Pro League (KPL), in a bid to bring the benefits of e-commerce to China’s biggest game title.
With about 470 million e-sports consumers in the country, according to iResearch Consulting Group, KPL is the country’s top professional e-sports league for Tencent’s mobile hit Honor of Kings, known elsewhere as Arena of Valor. KPL tournaments racked up a total of 24 billion views last year, according to Tencent.
With the new partnership, not only will JD become a sponsor of the tournaments, it will be entrusted to launch an array of new marketing campaigns for the league. A JD spokeswoman said the company will also be able to direct millions of e-sports fans to its own platforms where they can buy the latest gadgets and e-sports merchandise.
With live-streaming e-commerce a hot new trend in China retail, JD said KPL celebrities are also expected to live stream on its platforms to help promote sales.
“The e-sports industry is exploring ways to monetise [the business model], and this is where JD can weigh in,” said the JD spokeswoman. “We can bring in KPL’s sponsors and fans who might purchase products and eventually become our users.”