L'Oréal China's Singles' Day mask deal was undercut by its own coupons; streamers paused

In October 2021, ahead of China's Singles' Day shopping festival, L'Oréal advertised that shoppers could get the year's biggest discount on a facial mask if they tuned in to the live-streaming sales sessions of Li Jiaqi, known as China's 'lipstick king' for selling 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes. According to Li, customers later found they could buy the same mask at a lower price by grabbing coupons during L'Oréal's own live-streaming sessions in the festival period.

Angry buyers took to Weibo, pushing the topic up the trending list. By 18 November 2021, Sina's Heimao complaints site showed about 30,000 complaints against L'Oréal over the price gap. Li wrote that it was unfair to consumers who waited for his stream on the first day of the presale and trusted his channel. He and fellow top streamer Viya both said they had suspended all collaborations with L'Oréal until the issue was resolved, and promised to compensate buyers if no solution came within 24 hours.

In a Weibo statement, L'Oréal China apologised for the trouble caused by its 'overly complicated sales mechanism'.

About 30,000 Heimao complaints and two top live-streamers suspending all collaborations with L'Oréal until the issue was resolved.

L'Oréal pitched the mask to Li Jiaqi's audience as the year's biggest discount, but the same product was cheaper through coupons in its own live streams.

The company ran overlapping promotions across channels during the presale, and the mechanism was complicated enough that buyers could not tell which deal was best.

Shoppers who trusted one streamer's channel and bought early were the ones who lost out, which turned the streamers against the brand.

In live commerce, a 'lowest price' promise to one seller is a promise to that seller's audience. Co-ordinate every channel's promotions, or the cheapest channel sets the price you broke.

L'Oréal China said it had formed a team working with relevant government departments to investigate the case and would soon propose a solution. SCMP's report ends there; the final remedy is not covered in it.