Messi-related shoes among June's hottest Taobao searches
Searches for Lionel Messi-related footwear, clothing and even yerba mate, a South American tea especially popular in Argentina, the footballer’s home country, were for a time the most-searched-for terms on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao this month.
Mr Messi’s influence skyrocketed to new heights following what was his seventh visit to China, during which he participated in an exclusive live broadcast on the Alibaba-owned shopping site.
Argentina’s national team, which the sportsman captains, was in the country to play a match against Australia in Beijing. Although the Taobao livestream did not involve the selling of goods, Mr Messi’s 20-minute discussion with local football commentator He Wei and popular online shopping influencer Li Xuanzhuo garnered in excess of 2.5 million viewers.
