WeChat is setting up a live-streaming mini program to turn the omnipresent messaging platform into a bigger player in ecommerce. Sellers with official WeChat accounts will be able to live stream their goods through an H5 marketing page embedded in their mini programs, according to Tencent Live.
Live streaming and ecommerce have been a winning combination in China, where even farmers are becoming live streaming stars and selling their products online. For a while now, the biggest player in the business was Alibaba. WeChat owner Tencent has been trying to catch up after its own social features like WeChat public accounts and Moments started seeing declining numbers of views.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)
WeChat first started testing its live streaming function in March when Tencent opened it to a limited number of public account owners. Streaming on WeChat was possible before, but sellers had to link up with the Tencent Live app, which operates as a separate platform.