Live Streaming Ecommerce in China to Become a Trillion-Dollar Industry by 2026

The rise of live streaming ecommerce or live shopping in recent years has been meteoric. This fusion of online shopping and live streaming has drawn hundreds of millions of people across the globe, but no market is even close to China, the world`s largest live shopping industry.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, live streaming in China is expected to continue booming in the following years and become a trillion-dollar industry by 2026.

A Massive 1,850% Growth in Seven Years

Over the past five years, live shopping has become one of the biggest trends in ecommerce, blending live streaming and online shopping and revolutionizing how consumers shop. Thanks to live streaming ecommerce, shoppers can engage and interact with the brand at the same time and buy things through a live stream without having to leave the video. This new type of shopping has become especially popular in China, the world`s largest live shopping market.

For instance, in 2022, the Chinese short video app Douyin and online shopping platform Taobao generated a combined $330 billion from their live commerce business, or ten times more than just three years before that. This figure will be much higher in 2024 as the entire Chinese live shopping landscape continues to grow.

According to Statista and iResearch data, the Chinese live streaming ecommerce market hit a $680 billion value last year, or four times more than in 2020. With more and more Chinese embracing live shopping to connect with brands, this figure is expected to grow by 20% and hit $810 billion this year. Statistics show the value of the Chinese live streaming ecommerce sector will continue growing by an average of $150 billion per year by 2026, helping it to reach a massive milestone and become a trillion-dollar industry.

This figure is even more impressive when compared to the United States, the world`s second-largest ecommerce market.  The US live shopping industry is expected to have a $68 billion value by 2026, or 16 times less than in China.

Over 430 Million Chinese to do Live Shopping by 2026

According to the eMarketer forecast, the Chinese live shopping market will also add tens of millions of users in the next two years. In 2023, roughly 373 million internet users in China made at least one purchase via livestreaming, or 11% more than a year before.

Statistics show that 2024 will see almost 400 million shoppers in the Chinese live streaming ecommerce space, or 27 million more than last year. With more than 30 million Chinese flocking to this type of shopping in the next two years, the total number of users in the market will jump to 431 million in 2026.