As the vanguard of the 618 shopping festival, major influencers have become key players in platform promotional battles. Li Jiaqi actively prepared for 618, distributing up to 300 million yuan in red envelopes during his live broadcast. Controversial influencer Xinba publicly apologized on the eve of 618, successfully regaining the right to use his account. JD Live also invited Zhou Hongyi to participate in promoting goods.

Although other top influencers are fully prepared, they have collectively taken a slight step back: Xiao Yangge has devoted himself to short film production, while Dong Yuhui is busy with various events and cultural tourism-themed live broadcast work. According to a live broadcast preview associated with Dong Yuhui, he is expected to appear for only four days from May 20th to 26th, with a cumulative live broadcast duration of 7 hours. Since May, Xiao Yangge has accumulated 14 hours of live broadcast, with a total sales exceeding 200 million yuan. Despite rumors that Xiao Yangge might transition to another career, his intermittent return to live broadcasting seems to also be for maintaining viewership and fan loyalty.

According to the Douyin April sales ranking released by Bian Niushi combined with San Yan Cha data, Mad Xiao Yangge failed to enter the top twenty again after February and March. Furthermore, after being in the top three for three consecutive months, Dong Yuhui's ranking fell to ninth. Mad Xiao Yangge's drop from the list was within expectations; he broadcasted only three days in April, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan during the 5-hour live broadcast on April 27th; he did not sell anything during the less than one-hour broadcast on April 29th; and he made only 500,000 to 700,000 yuan during the 1.5-hour live broadcast on April 30th. Dong Yuhui's ranking drop might be related to his Henan trip in late April, but the actual data don't fully support this. According to Feigua data, during the five days of his Henan trip (April 25th to 29th), his live broadcast room's cumulative sales exceeded 130 million yuan.

It must be acknowledged that the influencers' time and energy are limited. Even Dong Yuhui, a leading knowledge-based influencer, once faced doubts over the quality of his content explanation. He is not just a face in front of the camera but also bears the responsibility as the team leader; similarly, Xiao Yangge's role has long exceeded the scope of live selling, as he also needs to manage a team of nearly a thousand people.

After years of development, the live commerce industry has transitioned from exponential growth to a phase of stable development. According to analysis and predictions by iResearch, in 2023, China's live commerce market is expected to reach a staggering 4.9 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 35.2%. However, the annual compound growth rate of China's live commerce is expected to slow to 18% between 2024 and 2026. In this context, focusing energies on the growth ceiling of the live commerce market shows waning potential returns and growth. To respond to this new trend, developing multiple business lines in parallel, rather than relying on a single growth path, has become an inevitable choice.

Meanwhile, some leading influencers are beginning to seek business transformation. For example, Xiao Yangge has chosen to expand into short film production, while Dong Yuhui has devoted himself to cultural and tourism live broadcast projects. One of the reasons these major influencers can stay ahead in the live broadcast market is their solid fan base. Even when Dong Yuhui temporarily doesn't appear in his live room, the sales and traffic may decline but still maintain a position at the top of the rankings. Similarly, even if Xiao Yangge does not appear on the list, his apprentice 'Boss Qi' consistently breaks into the top 20.

However, even as top live streamers plan their transitions, they have not completely left the broadcast rooms, as they must also maintain relationships with their fans. For example, during the busy period of January to March 2023, the live stream "Walking with Hui" achieved high data in popularity and GMV. Still, by April and May, Dong Yuhui's live streaming data showed a significant decline. In April, the audience of "Walking with Hui" dropped to 312 million, and entering May, the number was less than 100 million. Regarding GMV, Dong Yuhui's 22 days of live streaming in January brought in sales of 921 million yuan, making him the monthly sales champion on Douyin. Even though the number of live streaming days in February was reduced to 16, sales still reached 410 million yuan. However, in March, despite still ranking first in Douyin's monthly sales chart, sales fell to 600 million yuan.

Moreover, Dong Yuhui's occasional absence from live streaming had a direct impact on sales and traffic. For example, during the three-day non-broadcast period from April 12 to 14, the live stream "Walking with Hui" peaked at no more than 50,000 online viewers, with the average daily sales dropping to between 7.5 and 10 million yuan; however, during the short two-hour broadcast on April 7, the live stream's peak popularity reached 250 thousand, with over 11 million cumulative views, and sales exceeded between 10 and 25 million yuan.

It is evident that even though the live streamers may be contemplating retirement, their influence on the live streaming market is still significant. Little Brother Yang expressed his attitude towards withdrawing from the internet last year, asking his apprentice in his live stream, “If I announce my departure from the internet, would you support me?” In early March of this year, when talking about the 2024 business plan for "Three Sheep," Little Brother Yang mentioned he would reduce the number of times he live streams for sales and instead focus on more entertainment activities, such as electronic music festivals, concerts, and film and television projects.

Considering special events, there were suggestions to hand over fan-popular accounts to apprentices for management. However, Dong Yuhui has never intended to become a "salesman." After last year's small essay controversy, he confessed to Yu Minhong his lazy and literary temperament, feeling heavy and uncomfortable when it comes to sales. "I cannot, out of self-interest, use the love and care people have for me to shape myself into a sales crown to gain more benefits." Yu Minhong expressed that he also does not expect Dong Yuhui to be busy with sales all day, but should contribute to the company's culture and values and play a role in the development of Eastern philosophy.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Dong Yuhui candidly admitted that he actually does not like sales. This March, when talking about his plans, he said he would spend one-third of his time on live streaming sales of agricultural products, another third leading everyone to deeply experience the vast and beautiful landscapes of the motherland. With the remaining time, he wants to delve into literature, film, and other fields, engaging in celebrity interviews and entrepreneur interviews.

The pressure of social media heat and external expectations is a challenge faced by both Dong Yuhui and Little Brother Yang. Since becoming famous, Dong Yuhui has always been at the center of controversy. Data shows that in just one year of 2023, Dong Yuhui topped the hot search list 223 times. The problem became more pronounced after the small essay controversy, reaching the hot search 80 times in just two months of 2024. At the end of February this year, after refusing to discuss the lingerie category, he was criticized for "being unprofessional" and "gender discrimination." In response, Dong Yuhui purged his Weibo, calling it "the rage of an ordinary man," saying that although such action cannot change anything, he still wanted to express his feelings. Even after quitting Weibo, Dong Yuhui still couldn't escape the criticism and siege of the netizens.

Since March, Dong Yuhui has made numerous appearances on the trending searches, such as his excessive entourage during his Hubei visit, poor quality explanations, his live museum tours delaying visitors' schedules, and appearing overly arrogant while speaking English alongside Huo Qigang. Dong Yuhui himself said that the attention from trending searches scares him, with the constant and bizarre exposure being frightening. Little Brother Yang also shares a similar fear. Last December, he stated that his live broadcast room had become increasingly dull, expressing that too much attention prevents him from enjoying freedom as before, and if so, he might have already become a thing of the past.

Not long ago, Little Brother Yang once again made the trending search headlines due to the high drink prices at the electronic music festival he hosted. People complained about pricey bottled water costing 20 yuan, while Red Bull and Pocari Sweat were selling for 28 yuan and 30 yuan respectively. Little Brother Yang stepped forward to explain that all items at the festival were clearly priced without any deceit. He also said that after being pointed out for high prices, the water price was adjusted to 10 yuan, setting the lowest price in the history of the music festival. According to reports from The Paper, the event organizer, Wuhan Tieshu Cultural Media Co., Ltd., confirmed the transparency of the merchandise selling prices, which were verified by the market regulatory authorities.

Of course, the risks and challenges faced by live commerce extend beyond external pressures. In the last five years, the scale of live commerce in China has increased more than tenfold, but concomitantly, consumer complaints have surged nearly fivefold.

On Consumer Rights Day, Dong Yuhui and Little Brother Yang became focal points of online public opinion due to exposed quality issues with the braised meat products they sold. According to the newly released "Live Commerce Consumer Rights Protection Public Opinion Analysis Report (2023)," among the complaints from live commerce consumers, false advertising and uncivil selling are the most serious issues.

The report mentioned that the live commerce rights defense issues of Crazy Little Brother Yang are second only to the well-known live commerce broadcaster Li Jiaqi, ranking second with a high proportion of 31.3%, while Dong Yuhui is sixth with a proportion of 4.4%.

In an environment where entrepreneurs are choosing to bravely withdraw to focus on strategic corporate development, star live commerce broadcasters have also begun to gradually step back from the forefront, investing more time and energy in company management and developing new strategies. Dong Yuhui, besides being famous as a live commerce broadcaster, also serves as the legal representative and person in charge of Yu Hui Same Journey, necessitating him to pay more attention to company operations and management. During the live broadcasts, he admitted to being distracted both physically and mentally, even expressing his willingness to cut down his workload to allow for more preparation time.

However, for Little Brother Yang, the responsibilities he faces are even more onerous. According to "New Fortune" reports, Little Brother Yang and his brothers own a total of 54 companies, with a registered capital amounting to 330 million yuan, of which they hold a controlling interest in over 40 companies. Their businesses span various sectors of the live e-commerce industry, including internet celebrity brokerage, content distribution, and supply chain management.

After Xiao Yangge temporarily left the stage of live stream e-commerce, his five disciples took over the main responsibility of selling products. Among them, Boss Qi became the first anchor to reach a monthly sales volume of over 100 million yuan; another disciple, Mouth Brother, also exceeded 50 million yuan in monthly sales. Xiao Yangge has incubated several live streaming rooms on Douyin with a monthly sales volume of over ten million yuan.

Similar to Dong Yuhui and Xiao Yangge, another top live stream seller, Li Jiaqi, has also seen a decrease in his streaming hours. A year ago, Li Jiaqi's streaming time had already been reduced from the initial 5 to 6 hours to 3 to 4 hours. During this period, his "All Girls" live stream and "Every Girl’s Wardrobe" live stream were taken over by other anchors, yet the audience numbers remained between 2 million and 5 million.

These changes reflect that the live broadcast industry is entering a new phase of slower development, and the anchors need to explore new business directions. For example, Xiao Yangge has shifted his focus to the field of short dramas. He temporarily exited the top 20 e-commerce ranks earlier due to his focus on short dramas. In April this year, his San Yang Group launched a "San Yang Theater" account on Douyin, announcing that the first short drama "Fu Ye, Your Substitute Bride Is a Big Boss" has begun filming.

Xiao Yangge, who has garnered considerable attention on the Douyin platform, posted a selfie that received up to 14 million likes, showing his encounter with comedy superstar Stephen Chow. Xiao Yangge makes no secret of his dream; he aspires to be a comedy actor, hoping to star in blockbuster comedies like those of Stephen Chow.

Another well-known live stream personality, Dong Yuhui, is also constantly trying new ways to promote the growth and monetization of his live stream room. In April this year, his live stream room attracted advertising sponsorship for the first time, with Arcfox and OPPO becoming the official partners of his "Travel With Hui to Read Mountains and Rivers" series, providing exclusive vehicles and special mobile phones sponsorship.

The "Travel With Hui" live stream room has currently developed three different types of segments: the daily live stream retail segment "Love Life," culture and tourism-focused "Read Mountains and Rivers," and "Beyond Ten Thousand Books," concentrated on guest interviews and reading activities. It is evident that there is still much potential in this field, and its commercial viability is far from fully explored.

For some anchors, there seem to be compelling reasons to leave the live stream industry, whether it's moving behind the scenes or transitioning, but the reality is often more complex than one might imagine. Currently, Xiao Yangge has become an outstanding anchor trained in Hefei, serving as a key traffic symbol for the development of the local e-commerce industry. Led by Xiao Yangge, the e-commerce development layout in Hefei has been rolled out, hosting live stream sales for the local key enterprises for two consecutive years.

Xiao Yangge has also made an impact in terms of introducing MCN (Multi-Channel Network) agencies. According to "China Entrepreneur" magazine, in 2023, the famous game MCN agency "Little Elephant Big Goose" settled in Hefei High-Tech Zone, where Xiao Yangge's influence played an indispensable role.

Similarly, Dong Yuhui has emphasized the financial needs for daily operations and employee salaries during his live broadcasts, which are supported through goods sales. Live-streaming platforms like Dongfang Zhenxuan, and even Douyin itself, rely on top influencers like Dong Yuhui to attract audiences. In March this year, Dong revealed in his live room that Douyin proposed many development suggestions and prospects for "Walking with Hui," hoping they could develop more rapidly, showing the high expectations the platform has for them.

Li Jiaqi, who once said "I can stop working now," appeared hoarse and exhausted during live broadcasts. Despite this, no matter how famous other hosts like Wangwang become, they find it hard to replace Li Jiaqi's status. Luo Yonghao, who started live-streaming to pay off debts, chose to start a new business after clearing his debts. Although he announced his retirement, due to continuous performance pressure and reduced traffic, Luo Yonghao had to return to live streaming multiple times, supporting the brand "Let's Be Friends."

The traffic in the live commerce industry is so immense that even the top streamers find it exceedingly difficult to leave once they get involved. During this process, those affected by the live e-commerce are not only the audiences consumed by consumerism in front of the screens but also those top streamers under the spotlight.