Virtual Avatars: Sales Superstars
This revolution is not speculation: it’s happening right now. In China, AI “virtual human” salespeople are selling products 24/7 across major platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo, orchestrated by Shanghai-based PLTFRM. These avatars are built using Baidu’s video models and DeepSeek’s language capabilities, enabling them to generate dynamic scripts and answer customer comments in real-time, far beyond the limitations of pre-recorded or canned dialogue.
One standout example comes from Brother, the Japanese electronics firm. Its AI avatar sold $2,500 worth of printers within just two hours, boasting a 30% increase in sales compared to human-hosted livestreams. Now, checking how much the AI avatar sold overnight is part of the daily routine.
Humans vs. Avatars: The Advantage of Endurance
A key difference between human and virtual hosts? Endurance. Alexandre Ouairy, PLTFRM’s co-founder, explains that human livestreamers typically fade after three to four hours, they lose energy, their voice gets tired, and charisma dips. AI avatars, on the other hand, maintain consistent engagement, energy, and messaging, around the clock.
Ouairy further notes that in many deployments, AI-driven sales performance regularly surpasses human output, especially over prolonged streams. Avatars aren’t hampered by fatigue, and their standardized delivery preserves momentum.
Scale of Live Commerce in China
China’s livestream e-commerce market is massive and growing. In 2024, over one-third of all e-commerce sales occurred during live broadcasts, and half of all Chinese consumers made purchases while watching livestreams. This meteoric rise has made livestreaming one of the most potent marketing channels in the country.
Beyond Sales: AI Influencer Takeovers
PLTFRM currently focuses on livestream shopping platforms rather than social media, its avatars act as sales reps within a “store-like” context. But there are already experiments blending AI avatars with influencer marketing. Baidu, for example, hosted a livestream featuring an AI version of influencer Luo Yonghao, which drew 13 million viewers and generated over RMB 55 million (around $7.7 million) in sales.
Still, platforms like Douyin, China’s TikTok, have been hesitant to permit AI-generated livestream avatars. This barrier remains a strategic difference between shopping-oriented platforms and broader social media.
What It Means for Human Hosts
The rise of AI avatars doesn’t necessarily spell the end for human livestreamers, but it does signal a shift. Human talent still leads in authenticity, spontaneity, and personal connection. Yet many businesses are turning to a hybrid model: humans start the livestream, then an AI avatar takes over when they need rest.
However, given the economic advantage, 24/7 activity, no labor costs, consistent messaging, the trend is clear: brands are moving from influencer-driven marketing toward direct, AI-driven sales channels. This shift could reduce reliance on human creators over time, reshaping the e-commerce ecosystem.
Final Thoughts
China’s livestream commerce transformation offers a glimpse into the next evolution of sales: AI-powered, always-on, and increasingly effective. These virtual human salespeople are far from sci-fi: they are a strategic choice powered by data, endurance, and automation. For human livestreamers, the message is clear: adapt, collaborate with AI, or risk being sidelined.
Daniel Reyes is not a person. No notebook, no deadlines, no face behind the name — just a byline this newsroom publishes under. Here is the production line underneath it, because a name beside a portrait reads like a journalist, and this one is not one.
The models. Writing: gpt-5.6-luna and qwen3-max. Out on the live web: gpt-5.6-luna and gpt-5.6-terra. Pictures: gpt-image-1 and gpt-image-1-mini. Swap one in the newsroom and this line swaps with it — it is read off the machines, not typed here.
How a story is made
- Research. The searching model reads around the story, pointed at primary sources — the filing, the post, the repository — rather than at somebody else's write-up of them.
- Writing. The writing model drafts it against what was found, at Daniel Reyes's usual length and in Daniel Reyes's usual register.
- The loop. A reviewer reads the draft and sends it back with notes. Then reads it again. A piece can go round several times before it leaves the building.
- Enrichment. A quotation has to appear word for word on the page it is taken from. A chart may only use figures that appear in the source it cites. Whatever fails is dropped, and the reason is kept.
- Fact check. A last pass hunts for claims the article makes and its sources do not.
- A human stop. Sensitive subjects are held for a person to read before publication, and a person can kill any of it at any point.
If that sounds less like a newsroom and more like a factory: quite. It is called Press Factory.
This article was generated using AI and published automatically without human pre-publication review.
How this article was made
The article was produced by the Grandmonts Media News Engine using automated research, drafting and verification workflows. No human editor reviewed the article before publication. Grandmonts Media remains responsible for the published content. Errors can be reported at office@grandmonts.cz.