What is currently considered the main hit in Chinese online sales?
Baidu has launched its own project—a live streaming platform called Baidu Live, where brands sell everything imaginable: from smartphones to noodles—directly during the broadcast. The star of this show was Luo Yonghao—a person with extensive experience in mobile gadgets: he previously founded the Smartisan brand and is now regarded as a true master of Chinese live commerce. In May, his live stream with a real camera gathered about $5.6 million.
But already this week, Luo went live again—and this time, instead of himself, he was represented by a digital twin. Not just one, but two: a virtual avatar “Luo” and a digital co-host. During the broadcast, over 130 products were showcased, and the chat responded to viewers’ questions instantly—texts were generated on the fly by the AI ERNIE.
The results are impressive: in six hours of streaming, about seven million dollars were earned. And Luo’s record was broken in just 26 minutes! The broadcast was watched by around 13 million people, most of whom didn’t even notice that the host was a digital twin.
In China, approximately one hundred thousand such “digital hosts” are already operating. This helps companies reduce costs by up to 80%, and sales conversion rates increase by more than 60%.
So, what does this all imply?
Now, star showmen are turning into software code. Virtual sellers can work around the clock without breaks and test prices faster than any human can take a sip of water.
For marketplaces, clones eliminate the need for performance fees and reduce the risk of reputation damage. The key is that brand charisma remains intact.
Retailers with offline stores are given the opportunity to go live without significant investment in a face for the brand: just scan a QR code—and you already have a personal host.
Investors are interested in everything that can be launched “turnkey” using avatars: one script—and a new media network of a thousand similar characters is ready.
And there are news items that evoke a slight sense of discomfort. And this news is one of those.