On the night of May 1, four famous CCTV hosts, hailed as "CCTV Boys" by netizens, showed up together in a livestream, not for hosting a column, but selling appliances. The livestream sale was operated by GOME, one of the largest electrical appliances retail outlet in China, along with other e-commerce platforms, such as JD.com.

Powered with humor and witty repartee, the hosts ran the livestream like an entertainment TV show, attracting a total of 23.5 million views. The livestream featured top-tier home appliances and electronic products from various domestic and foreign brands. They achieved total sales of 528.6 million yuan (about 75 million U.S. dollars) in three hours.

Livestream sale is no longer a new concept to the Chinese people, especially after the epidemic. Starting April, news anchors from CCTV and famous celebrities have been promoting the sales of overstocked products in central China's Hubei, the province hit hardest by COVID-19.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the rise of "home economy" has paved way for new modes of boosting online consumption, such as live streaming and online community marketing. Big data monitoring by the Ministry of Commerce shows that there were more than four million live broadcasts of products online in the first quarter. As of March 2020, the number of e-commerce live streaming users reached 265 million, accounting for 37.2 percent of online shopping users, according to a statistical report released by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

The epidemic has brought changes in consumption patterns, and livestream sale has become an important part of the "new consumption." Enterprises are turning their focus to a new model of online and offline integration. Behind the livestreams are established supply chains, logistics and back-end industrial chains of services. Giant retail outlets like GOME have advantages of widely scattered offline stores in every city, which can quickly respond to consumers' needs, delivering their products quickly to their residences.

It is different from TV shopping. When countless KOLs, institutions, celebrities, officials and even entrepreneurs pour into the livestream with goods, the content itself becomes important, often turning the livestream into an entertainment show.

Consider the example of famous livestreamer Li Jiaqi. Whenever there is a celebrity joining his livestream sale, they end up becoming a widely searched hot topic on social media. Their funny moments are uploaded online like other TV entertainment shows, attracting audiences and creating a buzz.

The new model of livestream sale is still developing. More and more users are attracted toward it as a lot of influential celebrities join the livestream. The new online consumption methods also make up for the shortage of offline consumption while playing a role in expanding domestic demand and promoting economic development.