Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com offers US$138 million in cash incentives to boost video content

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said it will offer 1 billion yuan (US$138 million) in cash incentives to drive video content on its platform, as live-stream shopping becomes mainstream in the Chinese market.

Qualified influencers across 20 subject areas, including electronic devices, household goods, fashion, skincare and car accessories, can receive up to 30,000 yuan as a weekly bonus, according to a company statement issued on Wednesday.

In addition to cash, the creators, who either post videos reviewing products or conduct live-streaming sessions to promote and sell them, will receive “more exposure” for their content, JD.com said.

The firm has set aside 5 million yuan as incentives for multichannel networks, the agencies that help influencers grow and monetise their social media presence, providing them with cash bonuses on a monthly basis as long as they deliver a certain number of creators to the platform.

The decision comes as video-based shopping grows more popular in China. In 2023, 71.2 per cent of Chinese netizens purchased goods when they watched short videos or live-streamed content, compared with 42.7 per cent in 2022, according to a recent report by the China Netcasting Services Association.

JD.com first rolled out a live shopping service in 2016, just seven months after pioneer Taobao, the online marketplace of Alibaba Group Holding, launched the feature in April that year. It was not until two years later that short video giants Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok owned by ByteDance, and Kuaishou, added shopping to their video content. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

But unlike other apps, JD.com failed to cultivate any star influencers. The company said on Wednesday that it was “actively preparing to incubate the top creators” and plans to announce the 100 best-performing ones by year-end.