AI role key in stimulating consumption

Fast-evolving artificial intelligence is expected to foster new consumption growth drivers and inject strong impetus into China's consumer market as this cutting-edge digital technology is spearheading a technological revolution and industrial transformation to drive economic growth, said experts and company executives.

They said that commercial use of AI in e-commerce and home appliances will not only improve the consumer shopping experience and merchants' operational efficiency, but also create new consumption scenarios and bolster product sales.

Their comments came as a State Council executive meeting in July approved a guideline on implementing the "AI Plus" initiative, calling for vigorously advancing the large-scale commercial application of AI and boosting its accelerated popularization and deep integration across various fields of economic and social development.

Major e-commerce platforms are scrambling to leverage AI-powered virtual hosts in livestreaming sessions to introduce products and spur purchases. These virtual hosts can mimic human facial expressions and movements, and interact naturally with consumers while promptly answering their queries.

A digital human mimicking Liu Qiangdong, Chinese e-commerce giant JD's founder, appeared in the company's livestreaming rooms to promote a variety of merchandise, including meats, edible oils, eggs, milk, air conditioners and TV sets.

The AI anchor almost perfectly replicated Liu's expressions, body language, gestures, voice and accent. His avatar generated over 20 million views within the first hour and raked in 50 million yuan ($6.96 million) in sales throughout the real-time broadcast session.

Tmall, Alibaba Group's business-to-customer e-marketplace, offers consumers personalized guidance and advice with its AI-powered customer service chatbots, while online discounter PDD Holdings uses AI tools to analyze market trends and optimize sales strategies.

"The use of AI-powered virtual hosts in e-commerce livestreaming can bring a feeling of freshness to users, while brand owners can attract new consumers via this innovative method," said Mo Daiqing, a senior analyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy.

Mo said AI will change the way people purchase by providing interactive shopping experiences and promoting the digital transformation of traditional retailers.

"It is vital that Chinese retailers deepen their customer engagement. AI tools can energize customer retention efforts, enabling e-commerce players to hyperpersonalize their engagement with consumers and create bespoke shopping experiences for them," said James Yang, head of consulting firm Bain & Company Greater China's retail practice.

Meanwhile, leading consumer electronics and home appliance makers are racing to incorporate AI technology into manufacturing, products and services. Zhou Yunjie, chairman and CEO of Haier Group, said, "At present, the deployment of AI in enterprises mainly concentrates on manufacturing, research and development, sales, procurement and services."

Zhou said the integration of AI models with home service robots and terminal devices will create new growth drivers for the global consumer electronics industry, adding that his company has promoted the application of AI in a wide range of fields like smart homes and industrial internet.

Hisense Group said its Xinghai large language model has a deep integration with Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, and with enhanced deep thinking and reasoning abilities, its smart TVs could better understand user demands.

The rise of AI technology will offer better human-machine interaction capacities and boost the intelligent transformation of the home appliances sector, while unleashing consumption potential, said Liu Fei, research director of the consumer electronics department at Beijing-based market consultancy All View Cloud.

Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the new type of consumption is mainly driven by technological advancements in AI, with a focus on consumers' personalized and diversified needs.

"Nurturing an AI-driven new consumption model is pivotal to expanding domestic demand, driving industrial upgrades and promoting high-quality economic growth," Hong said.