“Three, two, one! Show [shopping] link!” Richard Liu, founder of Chinese e-commerce company JD, debuted his livestreaming show on Tuesday – using an avatar in his likeness. The billionaire’s virtual doppelganger drove total sales volumes to exceed RMB 50 million ($6.9 million) in less than one hour, the company said.

Why it matters: JD is finally trying to capitalize on China’s online retail trend for combining content forms and shopping, with the firm making huge investment bets in new areas. Liu’s rare public appearance, albeit through an extremely life-like avatar, demonstrates the urgency of change for the company as it plays catch-up to rivals that have cultivated high-popularity influencers over many years.

Details: Liu’s avatar is powered by the company’s ChatRhino large language model, according to a WeChat post that JD published on Wednesday. The post added that its AI-driven virtual hosts now serve more than 4,000 brands.

• Liu appeared simultaneously in two live shows that lasted less than an hour each, showcasing a total of 13 products, including steak and milk. Although his virtual persona successfully replicated his habit of waving his hands while speaking, the segments where he introduced the products sounded mechanical, lacking interaction with the audience.
• Beijing-based JD experienced a sudden traffic explosion last November as its procurement and sales team joined livestreams as hosts to sell hot items including the iPhone 15 series at lower-than-market prices. Different from other e-commerce platforms, JD said its model has no additional costs such as advertising fees or commissions for invited hosts.

Context: JD’s revenue grew by 3.7% in 2023 to RMB 1,084.7 billion, significantly slower compared to its 27.6% growth in 2021 and a 9.9% increase in 2022, as the e-commerce space has been slow to recover post-pandemic due to belt-tightening by price-sensitive consumers.