Two Chinese salesmen/influencers have announced that they are in conflict with the l’Oréal group due to a dispute that arose on Singles’ Day.
The two Chinese livestream influencers said they have suspended their collaboration with L’Oreal due to a dispute over pricing during Alibaba Group’s Singles’ Day in early November.
The dispute is a rare public dispute for the Chinese retail industry. This is because companies use Chinese influencers or sales channels to connect with local culture and take advantage of live streams followed by millions of fans.
Li Jiaqi and Viya said in social media posts on Wednesday that some of their followers had complained, claiming that the L’Oreal face products they featured as having the biggest discounts of the year on Singles’ Day could be purchased cheaper a few days later on L’Oreal’s own platform.
According to Chinese media reports, Li Jiaqi and Viya pre-sold 18.9 billion yuan ($2.96 billion) worth of products in promotions leading up to Nov. 11 on Oct. 20. A L’Oreal face mask was the best-selling item among all beauty items, with sales of more than 500 million yuan ($78.3 million) during the period.
The two livestreamers said they would offer compensation to their disappointed followers, but that “several rounds of negotiations” with L’Oreal had not resulted in a solution they felt was satisfactory.
In a statement, L’Oreal apologized to customers : “We apologize for implementing a complex discount system during the trade event, as attendees had to pay more during the presale period.” The group said some consumers were able to purchase its products at a lower price on its platform because they used multiple discounts.
The dispute became one of the most viewed topics on Chinese social network Weibo on Thursday, with 450 million views.
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Photo à la Une : © China Daily
