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1. Shopping can be entertainment—or a task to finish
WIRED’s 2023 reporting describes Chinese livestream commerce as a blend of retail and entertainment: viewers interact with hosts, watch demonstrations, and look for deals while shopping. That is a description of a business model and practitioner observations, not a claim about every Chinese shopper.
In the same report, Souffle Li, who recruits livestreamers, characterized U.S. consumers as more time-conscious: “American consumers shop online to save time. If they want to shop around, they would go to department stores.” She also said they would be less likely to watch hours of livestreaming for discounted products. These are Li’s assessments, not results from a representative consumer survey. WIRED’s report also quotes TCG’s Goad describing a U.S. commerce culture in which some consumers prefer useful, educational, or personal content to a direct sales pitch. The source does not establish that Goad is Lesley Gao.
One possible contextual factor, offered by IMD professor Howard Yu in the WIRED article, is the difference in retail space: he cites about 24 square feet per American compared with 2.8 square feet in China. WIRED presents these figures, but their underlying date and source are not established there, so they should not be treated as current measurements.
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What this means for ecommerce
- Test stream duration, host interaction, demonstrations, and discount framing with the intended local audience instead of assuming viewers in either country want the same format.
- Measure whether a live session adds useful product information or convenience for the audience, rather than treating watch time alone as evidence of purchase intent.
- Do not turn practitioner observations into national stereotypes: shopping habits vary by product, platform, and customer.
2. Discovery and checkout may sit closer together in China
Boston Consulting Group’s 2017 account describes Chinese ecommerce platforms as combining engagement and entertainment with commerce. It contrasts that structure with a U.S. social-discovery journey in which a shopper may see a product on social media, then leave the app to search for it and complete the purchase elsewhere. This is a useful structural comparison, but it is dated; platform features and checkout options change.
A 2025 scholarly article identifies Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok among prominent U.S. social-commerce platforms, and Douyin, Xiaohongshu (Red), Pinduoduo, WeChat, and Taobao in China. That list is not a verified current ranking, and platforms with similar content formats should not be assumed to have equivalent reach, shopping features, or checkout paths.
What this means for ecommerce
Map the actual journey on each platform and in each market: where a customer first encounters a product, where they evaluate it, whether they leave the app, and where payment occurs. A creative idea may transfer while the path to purchase does not.
The same 2025 article reports U.S. social commerce at $45.74 billion in 2022, with 24.9% growth, and China’s social-commerce ecosystem at $351 billion, equal to 14.4% of total ecommerce sales. These are figures reported by that article and attributed to earlier sources, not independently verified current totals; they should not be used as a like-for-like current market comparison. The article’s discussion provides the figures and platform context.
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3. Livestream and creator economics depend on local operating conditions
Livestream sales are not just a content format: they require a workable model for creator compensation, returns, and repeatable selling. WIRED’s interviews describe U.S. practitioners’ concerns that returns can complicate influencer commissions and that creators may be less inclined to join agencies. These are practitioner observations, not market-wide measurements or a current profitability benchmark.
What this means for ecommerce
- Model commissions against completed, retained sales and specify how returns, cancellations, and attribution are handled.
- Check whether creators in the target market prefer agency representation, direct brand agreements, or another arrangement; do not assume one country’s recruiting model will fit another.
- Evaluate repeatability and total operating costs, not just viewership or a single successful stream.
How to adapt a strategy across the two markets
The evidence supports adaptation rather than simple transplantation. Before expanding a campaign, test its discovery channel, path to checkout, audience expectations, and creator economics in the market where it will run. BCG’s older journey analysis is useful for framing the question, while current platform capabilities and local results need to be checked directly. BCG’s 2017 analysis explains the discovery-to-purchase distinction; WIRED’s interviews illuminate possible differences in livestream behavior and operations.
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