As China's "Double Reduction" policy continues to reshape the education sector, tutoring giants face an existential question: how to survive the upheaval? New Oriental answered with "East Buy," its successful livestreaming e-commerce venture. Now, rival Xueersi is entering the arena with "Xueersi Premium," marking not just a foray into live commerce but a critical transformation battle for corporate survival.
Xueersi's Entry: Imitation or Innovation?
The former tutoring behemoth Xueersi is attempting to replicate East Buy's success in livestream e-commerce. On Douyin (China's TikTok), Xueersi has built an extensive account matrix from "Xueersi Select" to "Xueersi Primary School Official," primarily selling educational products. Simultaneously, it launched "Xueersi Premium," ambitiously expanding into diverse categories from stationery to home appliances, aiming to create a comprehensive livestream shopping platform.
Despite modest follower growth in its first three months, "Xueersi Premium" shows steady sales momentum. Recent data reveals 30-day livestream sales between $70,000-$105,000, with 1.32 million cumulative viewers in the past week and average session sales of $7,000-$10,500. More strikingly, its format mirrors East Buy precisely: highly-educated teachers conduct bilingual sales pitches interspersed with knowledge sharing, musical performances, and book discussions, transforming the livestream into a miniature classroom.
This striking similarity has sparked accusations of plagiarism. "Xueersi Premium" responded candidly, acknowledging borrowing East Buy's model: "Learning from the top student in class isn't shameful." While some netizens praised this transparency, others criticized the lack of originality.
The East Buy Model: Education's Golden Template?
New Oriental's East Buy success has become a roadmap for the entire tutoring industry. Leveraging its teaching talent and content production capabilities, East Buy merged commerce with knowledge dissemination, creating a novel e-commerce format that enhances product value and user engagement.
From DouShen Education to Gaotu Education and now Xueersi, numerous institutions emulate this model, using their academic strengths to create educational livestreams in the competitive e-commerce market. East Buy appears to have set the new benchmark for education sector transformation.
The Corn Controversy: Is East Buy Replaceable?
However, East Buy faces vulnerabilities. September's "sweet corn incident" dented its reputation. While loyal fans remain, casual viewers were alienated as competitors' cheaper corn offerings repeatedly undermined East Buy's premium branding.
"Xueersi Premium's" emergence proves East Buy isn't irreplaceable. Though currently dwarfed in followers and lacking signature hosts, its rapid growth and product overlap with East Buy signal significant potential. During East Buy's reputational dip, Xueersi gained noticeable traction.
Competitive Landscape: Who Will Prevail?
The parallel trajectories of "Xueersi Premium" and East Buy ensure fierce competition for audiences and market share. While consumers benefit from choice, Xueersi must differentiate itself to succeed.
Currently, Xueersi's critical weakness is the absence of star anchors like East Buy's Dong Yuhui. Additionally, surpassing East Buy in content innovation presents a major challenge. Mere imitation cannot sustain long-term competitive advantage.
Livestream Commerce: Education's Lifeline?
Under regulatory pressures, tutoring firms desperately seek new directions, with livestream e-commerce becoming a common choice. Yet this isn't a panacea—it demands robust content production, operations, and supply chain capabilities.
For education companies, livestream commerce presents both opportunity and challenge. Only those truly understanding its essence while leveraging their strengths will survive. Those merely copying without innovation face inevitable obsolescence.
Whether Xueersi can replicate East Buy's success remains uncertain, but livestream commerce has undeniably become education's pivotal transformation vector. The ultimate victor in this adaptation race remains to be seen.
Future Prospects: Diversification as Strategy
Beyond livestream commerce, education firms might explore quality education, vocational training, or adult learning. Diversification reduces reliance on single revenue streams and strengthens resilience.
Additionally, leveraging their expertise in educational consulting, curriculum development, or technical services could create sustainable, multifaceted business models meeting diverse learner needs.
The education sector's transformation path brims with both obstacles and opportunities. Only organizations embracing change, innovating boldly, and exploring relentlessly will endure the market's crucible and emerge successful.