New Oriental’s Livestream Platform Launches Independent App

Oriental Selection, the livestreaming platform of Beijing-based New Oriental Education, has recently launched an independent app. Regarding the matter, New Oriental Education said on August 25: “All new businesses are in the process of preparation and promotion, and it is not convenient to disclose more details for the time being.”

The app consists of four columns at the bottom: “selection,” “classification,” “shopping cart,” and “my order.” Among these, “selection” is equivalent to homepage recommendations, while the “classification” section is classified retrieval. Eight of the current 11 categories are related to snacks, fresh food and agricultural products, which shows that the Oriental Selection app still focuses on selling food.

Products in the Oriental Selection app are basically the same as those in Douyin, the Chinese mainland version of TikTok. The prices of most self-operated goods remain unchanged, while the prices of non-self-operated goods remain the same compared with Taobao, JD.com and other major Chinese platforms. However, there are “limited discounts” for a small number of products in the app. For example, the matrimony vine is priced at 69 yuan in Douyin, but the original price in the new app is 59 yuan. With extra coupons, consumers can get the product for just 39 yuan.

The overall interface of the Oriental Selection app is relatively simple. There are no pop-up ads, and functions are limited to shopping. At present, the livestreaming function has not been opened.

An independent app can help New Oriental’s fans to enjoy a better shopping experience and reduce the company’s operating costs.

SEE ALSO: New Oriental Education Chairman Reveals Salary of Livestreaming Team

At the end of July, New Oriental Education released its financial report for fiscal year 2022, showing that the company’s total net revenue in Q4 of fiscal year 2022 was $524 million, down 56.8% year-on-year, while net losses were $189.3 million. Michael Yu, the founder of New Oriental Education, said that in fiscal year 2022, the company reorganized its core business and operations, and now it has entered a new stage.