Luo Yonghao, the founder of debt-ridden Chinese smartphone brand Smartisan, said Thursday that he will start selling products on the widely used short video platform Douyin — the Chinese name for TikTok — via livestreams, just a week after announcing more general plans to move into e-commerce via livestreaming.

The first livestream will take place April 1, when some “affordable and fancy products” will go on sale, Luo said in a video published to his personal account on social app WeChat. Previously, the tech entrepreneur had said that his team would focus on selling digital gadgets, “cultural” and “creative” products, books, groceries, and snacks.

Livestreaming sales are Luo’s latest business venture after he met substantial setbacks in his previous businesses, including e-cigarettes and synthetic shark skins. His new venture also comes as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many of China’s brick-and-mortar retailers to turn to livestreaming to promote and sell their products to offset virus-linked losses.

ByteDance-owned Douyin is one of the major players in China’s commercial livestreaming market, along with Alibaba’s Taobao Live and Kuaishou. In January, it was the fifth most downloaded non-game app on Apple’s China app store, according to research firm App Annie. (Image: IC)

Republished with permission from Caixin Global.