Home textiles have long permeated every aspect of Dieshiqiao district in Nantong and have become intertwined with the lives of ordinary people. Whether it’s restaurant owners, tea shop franchisees, or ride-hailing drivers, their social media feeds are flooded with home textile business information.
Du Li, the founder of the Gu Ta home textile brand, moved from Linyi, Shandong, to Nantong after marriage and quickly became deeply connected to the home textile industry. Her family has been engaged in home textiles since the 1980s, spanning over forty years. Du Li noted that her family’s ten years of traditional business could not match one year of traditional e-commerce sales, and ten years of traditional e-commerce could not rival one year of live-streaming e-commerce.
With the rise of live-streaming e-commerce, many merchants began collaborating with influencers for distribution. “We witnessed the initial, extremely frenzied phase, which constantly reshaped our perspectives,” Du Li said. “Someone suddenly sold 3 million yuan worth of products, another sold 5 million, and some even sold 10 million directly. It was truly remarkable.”
Since 2024, the growth of live-streaming sales has gradually slowed, with market attention and expectations also declining. The home textile industry is no exception. Starting last year, Gu Ta’s sales through influencer collaborations began to decline. One reason is the relatively high average order value of home textiles, leading influencers to prefer low-priced引流 products. Another factor is the reduced frequency or withdrawal of top influencers.
At the same time, live-streaming platforms have increased support for store livestreams. For example, on Douyin E-commerce, over 90,000 small and medium-sized merchants achieved GMV exceeding one million yuan in 2024 through store livestreams, with more traffic support planned for 2025. Taobao is guiding store livestreams to evolve from “customer service-style broadcasts” to more engaging and content-rich formats. Kuaishou E-commerce provides merchants with comprehensive support, from product infrastructure to marketing campaigns, achieving a 45% year-on-year increase in conversion rates for e-commerce livestreams in 2024.
In Dieshiqiao, more and more merchants are shifting to store livestreams to capture the traffic left behind by the withdrawal of top influencers. They reach consumers in a more direct, autonomous, and cost-effective manner, enhancing user loyalty, cultivating consumption habits, and achieving better conversions. According to merchants, the profit margin from self-streaming is at least 10% higher than that from influencer collaborations. Du Li began self-streaming at the end of June 2023. Within just over a year, Gu Ta’s sales from influencer collaborations and self-streaming had already equalized.
Such self-streaming merchants are not uncommon in Dieshiqiao. Mitang initially supplied products to influencers but began experimenting with self-streaming in April 2024. Starting with zero followers on Kuaishou, their first livestream achieved a GMV of 10,000 yuan. Since then, founder Li Yan has invested more time and effort in building her personal IP, renovating the livestreaming room, and consistently creating short video content. Within a year, Mitang’s self-streaming sales have now reached the million-yuan level.
Dieshiqiao, a village under the jurisdiction of Nantong, Jiangsu, controls over 60% of the national home textile output, with an annual transaction volume of 250 billion yuan. It is also a microcosm of the strong rise and integration of the world’s factory and white-label e-commerce. More and more home textile professionals are setting up tripods, stepping from behind the scenes to in front of the camera, and engaging in live-streaming sales with a meticulous and dedicated approach.
With internet traffic peaking and the peak of live-streaming sales having passed, some are flocking to new platforms in search of new traffic, while others remain in the existing market, meticulously cultivating growth. In Dieshiqiao, merchants have chosen a path that is undoubtedly challenging but more sustainable in the long run.
Zhu Jingnan, from Xia County, Henan, came to Dieshiqiao in 2021 to engage in live-streaming sales. A summer cool four-piece bedding set with an average order value of 99 yuan achieved an ROI of 50, and the GMV reached 20 million yuan in the first year. In 2024, this team of over 200 people managed more than 30 accounts, broadcasting 24/7, and achieved a GMV of 600 million yuan.
Although the overall growth of live-streaming sales has slowed, they still maintain an annual growth rate of at least 20%. Zhu Jingnan believes that the increment primarily comes from changes in the frequency with which people replace home textile products. “For the younger generation, we need to cultivate the mindset and habit of regularly replacing home textiles,” Zhu Jingnan said. “Once this habit is formed, the market could grow at least fivefold.”
“In foreign countries, people might change bedsheets nine times a year, while our traditional habit is to change them once every nine years,” Zhu Jingnan noted. Generally, high-quality mattresses can last 8–10 years, pillows should be replaced every 1–2 years, and duvets every 3–5 years. Four-piece bedding sets are best washed weekly, and their lifespan depends on the material.
How to cultivate this mindset among consumers? Beyond instilling the idea of regular replacement during livestreams, home textile professionals are beginning to think outside the box, experimenting with innovative designs to attract more consumers and increase sales volume.
In Dieshiqiao, a new order can be completed—from fabric production to final product packaging—in just three days, a feat unmatched by any other region. However, this has also led to severe product homogenization. Once a product becomes popular, similar-looking products flood the market within days, often at even lower prices.
Nevertheless, the era when consumers tire of cheap, homogeneous products and become willing to pay for good design and quality materials may not be far off. Those who dare to innovate will eventually be rewarded by the market.
During this year’s 618 shopping festival, Mitang, with only 30,000 followers, achieved a nearly 600% year-on-year increase in GMV on Kuaishou, with several products selling over a thousand units. “Good products will eventually be seen, and gold will always shine,” Li Yan said. “I am walking a difficult but correct path.”
The so-called difficult but correct path involves upgrading products based on user needs. Mitang focuses on a fresh and minimalist style, using primarily Class A and baby-safe fabrics. They launched a machine-washable silk duvet, differ from the traditional notion that silk duvets cannot be washed.
Gu Ta collaborates with over 30 international designers to create diverse designs for the brand, launching new products with every livestream. “Although high-frequency product launches carry financial and product risks, customers respond well and are attracted to the新颖 patterns and designs.”
Another merchant, Xiao Jinpeng, specializes in Kuaishou livestreams and has over 1.8 million followers. In 2024, he achieved a GMV of 50 million yuan, with an average livestream income of 500,000 yuan per session. New products contributed approximately 20%–40% of the GMV. This merchant also launches at least two new products in every livestream, with consumers often commenting, “There’s no end to the buying—it’s simply impossible to buy everything.”
