Livestreamer Li Jiaqi’s daily sales drop more than 50% from last year’s record

Li Jiaqi, the celebrity Chinese livestream salesman who attracted viewer anger earlier in 2023 for pushing high-priced cosmetics, reportedly sold RMB 9.5 billion ($1.3 billion) in goods on the first day of Alibaba’s annual shopping festival, a slump of more than 50% on his daily record of RMB 21.5 billion last year. The influencer was cited in several industry disputes in recent days. Li’s glory day seems to be over, as new and younger livestreamers demonstrate higher sales dynamism. Taobao Live said that 12 livestream rooms saw sales exceed RMB 100 million in the first four hours of pre-sales, of which Li Jiaqi’s was one. [Shanghai Securities Journal, in Chinese]