Does traffic means sales: evidence from Chinese live streaming commerce market

Purpose This research paper aims to investigate the critical factors influencing the live commerce industry and their implications for Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and brands. Design/methodology/approach The study comprehensively reviews previous research, develops relevant hypotheses and utilizes personal information from 66 anchors, along with data from 23,000 product links obtained from the backends of live commerce platforms. Findings The study emphasizes that KOLs with higher traffic significantly influence Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV). Intriguingly, KOLs with lower traffic levels exhibit a more pronounced effect on Return on Investment (ROI), highlighting their significance in driving profitability. Furthermore, the study explores the correlation between KOL hashtags and GMV/ROI and the intricate relationship between product types and KOL hashtags. Practical implications The findings significantly enhance the understanding of live shopping behavior and provide valuable insights for business management strategies. Practitioners can leverage this empirical evidence to make informed decisions, utilizing extensive data samples of KOLs and brands. Originality/value This research contributes unique insights into the live-streaming commerce industry using backend data from Live Streaming E-commerce platforms. The findings are more accurate based on market data than previous studies that relied on platform reviews or questionnaires. Additionally, this paper investigates the impact of KOLs on the performance of live e-commerce from three perspectives: GMV, ROI and hot-selling products.