When it comes to becoming a live stream seller on social media platforms, most people would think that the requirements include physical attributes, confidence and personality, networking skills and more.
But for Zheng Xiang Xiang, a live streamer at Douyin, the China's version of TikTok, her work also requires speed and precision.
This is because on her live stream, viewers who don't pay attention, will miss what she's doing.
Xiang Xiang is known for bringing an innovative twist to China's e-commerce industry.
She gained her popularity from how quickly she showed items.
3 seconds or less, is all she needs.
She began her quest of becoming a social media star in 2017, but only gained traction in November 2023.
At first glance, she may look like some ordinary seller on social media. Nothing special, all too common.
But when she starts, she's really at it.
Her trademark, is her speed and precision when showcasing items.
When she is on a live stream, her assistant hands her the box and she holds it up, stating the price, and then flinging it off-screen. The products are pushed aside, as fast as they were brought to her.
The idea here is that, she sells cheap goods that can be around $1 dollar.
This leads to impulsive spending on low-quality products.
Since the shipping of goods is more expensive than the item itself, many people who impulsively bought the items Xiang Xiang showcase do not bother returning the item.
As a result, Xiang Xiang gets to pocket all of the profit.
In a week of Xiang Xiang's live streaming sessions, she was able to sell approximately 10 million units, and this translates to around 100 million yuan in earnings.
This is roughly $14 million in just 7 week of work.
"I touch so many boxes every day, I even have calluses on my hands now. These hands have gone through the vicissitudes of life," she said.
All of the live streams that Xiang Xiang hosts, happened inside a warehouse that is filled with tens of thousands of boxes and products.
Xiang Xiang's success can be tied to authenticity.
In the real world where the digital world has slowly taken over, people have less and less attention span. And Xiang Xiang uses this to showcase as many products as possible, as brief as possible.
With orange, Hermès-like boxes piling up behind her, to her simple clothing, Xiang Xiang opts for a stripped-down format, which comes without the usual fanfare associated with product promotions.
This unpretentious approach, devoid of flashy stunts and verbose monologues, places the spotlight squarely on the products.
Not to mention, her unique presentation style, in which she allocates just three seconds to spotlight each product before swiftly transitioning to the next, certainly involves some skills and experience.
Some viewers have indeed praised Xiang Xiang's skills.
Some pointed out that her deadpan expression and her fast movement resembles Liang Anna, a card dealer in the movie No More Bets.
Others however, are more concerned about her excessively fast streams and the quality standards the products have.
Some purchasers complained the smell of "cheap glue" and the extensive use of plastic bags.
"These products shouldn’t be sold even if they aren’t defective or excess inventory. They are creating waste and polluting the environment," a commenter said.
Douyin keeps track of live streamers, especially popular ones, and Xiang Xiang is one of them.
Seeing how fast she advertises products with little to no information about the things she sell, is considered a violation of its terms of service.
As a result of this, Xiang Xiang is banned from the app.
Soon after her ban, she switched platform to Douyin’s rival, Kuaishou, and continues her speedy showcases there.