LIVE COMMERCE AND INFLUENCERS FATIGUE IN HANGZHOU

I just read a long but fascinating article about the 'involution' of live commerce in Hangzhou. The following is a summary created with Notebook.

The e-commerce and live-streaming industry in Hangzhou is experiencing a structural decline, signalling the end of the "gold rush era" and creating an "oversupply of people" in the job market.

This downturn is visibly impacting the city's real estate and commercial sectors. Hangzhou's office vacancy rate hit a record high of 27.7% in the second quarter of 2025. Iconic live-streaming hubs, such as Regent International, once a symbol of the industry, housing nearly 20,000 people, now appear somewhat deserted, even during the Double Eleven shopping festival. Rents for one-bedroom apartments have dropped (from over 3,000 yuan to just under 2,000 yuan), with many units remaining vacant.

For industry workers, incomes are shrinking collectively due to declining traffic and sales. Intense saturation means hourly wages for ordinary streamers have been halved (e.g., from 160 yuan to 80 yuan), yet many still scramble for work.

Lower-level streamers are highly replaceable, often eliminated by "cheap" college graduates entering the market, with some companies offering low wages while demanding long hours, a practice described as "recruiting slaves".

Streamers face immense psychosocial pressure, having to maintain constant high excitement and tension while monitoring traffic curves in a competitive "horse race mechanism". This anxiety and the relentless work pace often lead to severe burnout and physical collapse, including anaemia and an inability to stand or breathe after short broadcast periods. The pressure to look good also drives anxiety about appearance, leading some to invest heavily in cosmetic surgery (e.g., 110,000 yuan) to secure their "ticket" to the industry. Even for those earning high salaries (30,000 to 50,000 yuan monthly), high living expenses limit savings, leading to the feeling that money is "incomparable to my health and my happiness".

E-commerce businesses are also struggling with immense financial strain. Bosses are trapped by huge inventory backlogs (up to 20 million yuan worth of goods) due to high return rates (e.g., 80% for women's clothing) and wafer-thin profit margins caused by rivals undercutting prices. The recently implemented "e-commerce tax" is expected to be the "last straw" for merchants reliant on paid traffic or fake orders.

Despite the challenges, many professionals still view Hangzhou as the "ceiling for the live streaming industry" and the best location to seek the next opportunity, citing its potential for growth and the availability of government talent subsidies.

Source: 虎嗅APP/凤凰网

Original article: mp.weixin.qq.com/s/WQ7n…

-Ed