Chinese Livestreamers Set Sights on TikTok Sales to Shoppers in US and Europe
Chinese livestreamers have set their sights on TikTok shoppers in the U.S. and Europe, hawking everything from bags and apparel to crystals with their eyes on a potentially lucrative market, despite uncertainties over the platform's future in the U.S. and elsewhere. In China, where livestreaming ecommerce is forecast to reach 4.9 trillion yuan ($676 billion) by the year's end, popular hosts like "Lipstick King" Austin Li rack up tens of millions of dollars in sales during a single livestream. Many brands, including L'Oreal, Nike and Louis Vuitton, have begun using livestreaming to reach more shoppers. But the highly competitive livestreaming market in China has led some hosts to look to Western markets to carve out niches for themselves. Oreo Deng, a former English tutor, sells jewelry to U.S. customers by…