Brands focus on stories in refining China livestreaming to boost profits

A salesperson conducts a livestreaming session at the Romomo livestreaming centre, during an organised media tour to the ecommerce solutions company Buy Quickly, in Shanghai, China. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: When tech giant Apple joined China’s livestreaming frenzy, a major driving force of the ecommerce boom in the world’s second biggest economy, it launched without deep discounts or a celebrity host to pull millions of viewers.

Yet Apple's show, hosted by product experts offering tips on making movies with iPhones or using the Apple Watch as a workout aid, drew 300,000 likes and more than 1.3 million viewers within an hour in May.