Positive Reviews: Community Trust Builds Differentiated Competitiveness, and High – value Users Lay the Foundation for E – commerce Growth
In Bilibili’s exploration of the e – commerce field, its core advantage lies in the transformation of the unique asset of “community trust”, which has opened up a differentiated track in the crowded content e – commerce market.
Firstly, Bilibili’s community ecosystem naturally nurtures deep – seated trust relationships, which is a core competitiveness difficult to replicate on other platforms. According to news data, Bilibili users spend an average of 108 minutes per day on the platform, nearly two hours of immersive interaction. This forms an emotional bond between UP owners and fans that goes beyond the ordinary “anchor – audience” relationship. This trust does not come from the shouting in the live – streaming room but from long – term content companionship and value recognition. For example, the home – appliance evaluation UP owner “Mr. Mideng” turned himself into an “appliance expert” through in – depth content on disassembling washing machines, and finally achieved a closed – loop of “content as service, trust as transaction”. The case where the GMV of a single live – streaming session exceeded 130 million yuan is a typical example of this trust economy. Compared with the “interest – based e – commerce” on Douyin and Kuaishou that relies on algorithmic push, Bilibili’s “trust – based e – commerce” emphasizes more on users’ recognition of the personal professionalism of UP owners. Once this trust is established, users’ consumption decisions are more rational but also more long – lasting, with higher repurchase rates and customer unit prices. Data shows that UP owners in Bilibili’s technology section have outstanding performance in promoting high – value products (such as digital appliances). During the “618” period in 2025, the advertising revenue from promoting digital appliances increased by 111% year – on – year, which is a direct proof of the transformation of this trust into high – value consumption.
Secondly, Bilibili’s user group provides a high – quality foundation for e – commerce growth. Its users are mainly Gen Z and new middle – class people, characterized by youth, high education levels, and high consumption potential. According to public information, users under 35 years old account for over 80% of Bilibili’s user base, and nearly 40% of users have a monthly consumption capacity of over 2,000 yuan. This type of users has a strong demand for quality and personalization and a high acceptance of professional content, which is naturally suitable for Bilibili’s “trust – driven” e – commerce model. For example, high – value products (such as high – end appliances and professional equipment) recommended by UP owners in the technology and knowledge sections can often accurately reach the target users, with a much higher conversion efficiency than the “shotgun” – style promotion on traditional platforms. This combination of “high – value users + high – trust relationships” lays a solid foundation for the long – term growth of Bilibili’s e – commerce.
Finally, Bilibili’s commercial exploration has initially verified the feasibility of the “community – first” strategy. From achieving its first profit in 2024 to continuously consolidating its profitability in 2025, Bilibili has proved that commercialization can be carried out in an orderly manner without destroying the community ecosystem. For example, through the “Spark Plan” to connect the data of Taobao and JD.com, the cost of product selection for UP owners is reduced; the product selection square is launched to optimize the product matching efficiency; the fan threshold for live – streaming sales is lowered to activate mid – tier and lower – tier UP owners. These measures not only improve the commercial conversion efficiency but also avoid excessive impact on the community atmosphere. This “gentle and gradual” commercialization path protects the user experience and leaves room for future large – scale growth.
Negative Reviews: The Inherent Contradiction between Trust and Efficiency, and a Long Way to Go for the Integration of the Content Field and the Transaction Field
Although Bilibili shows unique advantages in the e – commerce field, its development still faces multiple challenges. The core contradiction lies in the inherent conflict between “community trust” and “commercial efficiency” and the deep – seated obstacles in the integration of the content field and the transaction field.
Firstly, the fragility of community trust raises the threshold for commercialization and limits scale expansion. The core of Bilibili’s community culture is “purity”, and users have extremely low tolerance for commercial content. If a UP owner recommends a product in a way that is poorly related to the content or the product fails to meet the description, they may lose followers at best or even have their persona collapse at worst. This “high – scrutiny” forces UP owners to invest much more time and effort in product selection than anchors on other platforms. They not only need to understand the product functions but also ensure that the products are consistent with their own content tone. They even need to wrap commercial information in high – quality content through methods such as “in – depth evaluations” and “detailed analyses”. This directly leads to extremely high “hidden costs” for Bilibili’s live – streaming sales, making it difficult to achieve large – scale GMV growth through algorithmic batch promotion of products like Douyin. For example, Douyin’s GMV reached 3.5 trillion yuan in 2024. Even though Bilibili’s GMV during the “618” period increased by 41% year – on – year, the absolute value still had a huge gap. This “high – trust, high – cost” model ensures the quality of single – session conversion but also limits its replicability. Especially in categories that require impulse consumption, such as beauty and fast – moving consumer goods, Bilibili’s advantages are difficult to发挥.
Secondly, the logical conflict between the content field and the transaction field creates a gap in the user’s consumption chain from “seeing to buying”. Douyin’s “interest – based e – commerce” integrates products into the information flow through algorithms, and users complete impulse consumption during entertainment, with the core being “efficiency”. In contrast, Bilibili users aim for “content consumption”, and the insertion of commercial content is more likely to be regarded as a “disturbance”. Their consumption decisions strongly depend on long – term trust in UP owners, with the core being “depth”. The difference in these two logics directly leads to the differentiation of commercial efficiency: Douyin’s “short, flat, and fast” model is suitable for large – scale coverage, while Bilibili’s “long – decision – chain” model is more suitable for high – value, high – loyalty categories but difficult to quickly replicate across all categories. For example, the success of technology – section UP owners in promoting digital appliances is difficult to directly transplant to the beauty field. Users may buy a washing machine because they trust the UP owner’s “appliance professionalism”, but they may not place an order for lipstick recommended by the same UP owner because the “beauty professionalism” requires the establishment of new trust. This limitation in category expansion makes Bilibili’s e – commerce ecosystem less complete and more vulnerable to risks compared with comprehensive e – commerce platforms.
Thirdly, the potential risks in adjusting the underlying logic may shake the foundation of the community. To improve commercial efficiency, Bilibili needs to make changes in traffic distribution and community culture guidance. However, these changes may damage users’ perception of “fairness” and “purity”. For example, if the platform gives more traffic to live – streaming UP owners to support them, it may break the original traffic distribution principle of “inclusiveness + content quality”, leading to users’ doubts about “commercialization destroying fairness”. If the platform tries to list “paying” and “triple – click support” as encouraged behaviors, it may change users’ traditional perception of “creating out of love” and weaken the “non – utilitarian” atmosphere of the community. As Bilibili’s chairman Chen Rui said, “the healthy and sustainable development of the community” is the long – term goal. However, finding a balance between “community – first” and “commercial growth” remains an unresolved problem.
Suggestions for Entrepreneurs: Deeply Cultivate Trust Value and Precisely Balance Content and Business
Bilibili’s exploration in e – commerce provides important inspiration for entrepreneurs (especially content – based platforms or UP owners). Based on its experiences and challenges, the following suggestions can be summarized:
- Build differentiated competitiveness with “trust” as the core: Bilibili’s case shows that users’ trust in content creators is the rarest commercial asset. Entrepreneurs should focus on vertical fields and establish an “expert” persona by continuously outputting professional and valuable content (such as evaluations and knowledge sharing) instead of relying on traffic tricks or short – term promotions. For example, home – appliance UP owners can build a professional image through in – depth content such as product disassembly and comparison tests, and technology – section UP owners can enhance users’ trust through technical analyses. This closed – loop of “content – trust – conversion” can significantly improve user stickiness and repurchase rates.
- Carefully balance content and business to avoid “trust over – draft”: The high sensitivity of Bilibili users to commercial content warns entrepreneurs that commercialization should be based on the premise of “not destroying the user experience”. It is recommended to strictly select products that match the content tone during product selection (for example, technology – section UP owners should give priority to digital appliances rather than fast – moving consumer goods) and naturally integrate commercial information through the way of “content as recommendation” (such as objectively analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of products during evaluations) to avoid blunt implantation. At the same time, establish a “user feedback – product selection adjustment” mechanism. If there are quality problems with the recommended products, timely public responses should be made and responsibilities should be taken to maintain the trust relationship.
- Design conversion paths according to user behavior to reduce decision – making costs: The problem of “difficult integration of the content field and the transaction field” on Bilibili reminds entrepreneurs that conversion links need to be designed according to user habits. For example, for “target – oriented” users (such as those who actively search for content to buy a certain type of product), detailed parameter comparisons and purchase links can be provided in the content. For “content – immersed” users (such as those who browse content randomly), needs can be stimulated through “knowledge popularization + scenario – based recommendations” (such as recommending cost – effective appliances in the “decoration pit – avoidance guide”), and purchase information can be supplemented in the comment section or dynamic posts to avoid interrupting the content experience.
- Make good use of platform tools to improve commercial efficiency: Tools such as the “Spark Plan” and the “Product Selection Square” launched by Bilibili are essentially aimed at lowering the commercialization threshold for UP owners. Entrepreneurs should actively utilize platform resources. For example, they can screen products that match their own content through the product selection square, optimize product selection strategies by analyzing user preferences with data tools, and activate the potential of mid – tier and lower – tier creators through low – fan – threshold live – streaming. At the same time, pay attention to platform policy dynamics (such as adjustments to traffic distribution rules) and maximize the use of platform support within the scope of compliance.
- Community co – construction from a long – term perspective: Bilibili’s community culture is its core competitiveness. Entrepreneurs should participate with the mindset of a “co – builder” rather than a “harvester”. For example, enhance user participation through interaction (such as answering questions in the comment section and communicating in the fan group), and improve community value recognition through public – welfare content (such as environmental protection and knowledge popularization). Integrate commercial activities into the overall development of the community ecosystem. This “altruistic” thinking can actually accumulate a deeper trust foundation for long – term commercialization.
In summary, Bilibili’s path to breaking through in e – commerce is essentially an art of balancing the “trust economy” and the “efficiency economy”. For entrepreneurs, they need to cherish the scarce asset of community trust and improve conversion efficiency through refined operations. They should respect users’ original intention of content consumption and find a reasonable outlet for commercial value. Only in this way can they embark on a sustainable growth path in the symbiosis of content and business.
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