Zhang Ka, a post-1970s Beijing woman who loves knitting, not only provided a new path of reemployment for retirees, but also found some knitting enthusiasts like her via livestreams on Taobao app, a well-known online shopping platform in China.

During this year's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, Zhang's online store saw an explosive growth of sales. Its turnover in the first half of the year reached 10 million yuan (US $1.42 million), surpassing last year's annual sales, and is expected to reach 20 million yuan (US $2.85 million) by the end of this year. 

A few years ago, customers often complained about the gap between actual practice and a sweater-knitting teaching video. To solve this problem, Zhang decided to open an account on Taobao live to teach them step by step via livestreaming, but she didn't expect a favorable response at that time.

As e-commerce livestreaming rose in the country last year, sales of shops on Taobao grew by more than 150 percent. 

"People come to view my live broadcast out of their love for knitting," said Zhang.  

At present, Zhang has six partners sharing hosting duties with her. Their average age is about 50, and they broadcasts at least 12 hours a day. Their followers have increased to 120,000 from 30,000 at the beginning, and the repurchase rate exceeds 60 percent.

Zhang's business was not always smooth. In 2008, Zhang's son was born. It was a great joy to her, but her business got into trouble since the sales figure had been zero for three consecutive 

months. In the same year, Wenchuan, a county in Southwest China was hit by a devastating 
earthquake. When Zhang heard the news, she planned to shut down her offline store and donate self-knitted sweaters and some un-knitted wool to the disaster victims. 

As the proverb says, "one good turn deserves another." Zhang regained a lot in the process of passing on love. When people received the free wool and sweaters, they bought many other products from her so that the store was brought back to life.

"Actually there are many people fond of knitting, but I just did not find them," said Zhang, realizing 
that it's important to look for fans who really love knitting. In 2010, Zhang opened an online store, attracting more and more knitting enthusiasts across the country. Zhang once met one of them at an exhibition in Shanghai who spent tens of thousands of yuan a year buying wool and weaving dozens of clothing items as presents for relatives and friends. 

Crowds of women who love life like Zhang have been emerging on Taobao. Zhang believes that a lot of middle-aged and elderly people turn to live broadcasts just because of that valuable ardor.

A recent report on Taobao livestreaming shows that more than 20 percent of the livestreaming hosts are 50-60, and the percentage is still rising. 

"The middle-aged and elderly people can have a finger in the pie of e-commerce livestreaming by virtue of their abilities, interests and expertise other than their educational backgrounds," Weng Yi, an assistant researcher at the Cathay Institute for Public Affairs commented, adding that their active participation in e-commerce livestreaming alleviates social employment pressure.  

(Source: China Business Herald/Translated and edited by Women of China)