Beyond the screen,
into a future city.
Taolive City is a 3D digital-twin shopping world that Taobao Live built from scratch. Three strands, new spaces, new play and new ways to shop, give brands their own halls and a stage for marketing, and give young users something they can actually take part in. A “template hall + light customisation” model brought 20+ brands live in three weeks over Double 11.
- Project
- Taobao Live · 0→1
- Team
- 2 UX · 1 concept artist · 2 technical artists
- Field
- 3D · digital twin
- Milestone
- Double 11 · standard onboarding
*Figures are rounded. No live business data is shown.
Use new technology
to make marketing
more interactive.
The next step for live streaming isn't just a screen. We wanted to use 3D and digital-twin technology to build an interactive marketing space for users and merchants that goes beyond reality and invites participation.
The project had to serve three parties at once: the business wanted time spent and activity, merchants wanted a new place to operate, and young users wanted something fresh.
More time spent and activity
Increase time spent on live streaming and drive user activity.
A new marketing stage
Give brands a new place to run interactions and marketing.
Fresh and interactive
Give young live-stream users a fresh experience they can take part in.
- New spaceBrand marketing
Immersive brand experiences
Varied scenes and private halls make brands feel tangible and immersive
Space - New playAudience engagement
Fresh, fun ways to play
Everyday marketing games, games for fun, and big-event campaigns
Interaction - New shoppingProduct promotion
Products shown vividly, from every angle
3D interactive live streams and immersive in-store shopping
Commerce
A 3D space for
commerce + user play
With “Future City” as the theme, we built a city-scale world where the stage, central station, streamer camp and shopping street each have a role, developed step by step from concept art to block-out demo.
Eight scenes, each with a clear job: the shopping street, metaverse brand halls and metaverse live rooms serve brands' commercial needs; the stage, botanical garden, crystal island, streamer camp and central station are where users come to play.
Build a showroom
that brings brands in
There was no playbook for a brand's own 3D hall. We broke 3D space design into four steps: basics, function, visual experience and iteration, each with a clear output, before merchants tested it and asked for changes.
Basics
Industry → style direction- Map space styles by industry
- Reference physical stores and brand tone
Function
Scale → zones → flow- Small / medium / large space structures
- Product booths and add-on combinations
- Shopping flow and interaction points
Visual experience
Form → decoration → lighting- Form and materials
- Decorative elements
- Lighting / sound
Iteration
Merchant testing → revisions- Collect merchant feedback and issues
- Add templates, colour schemes and booths
Lightly customised,
to fit each brand
To get more brands in quickly, the onboarding strategy became 1 template hall + N light customisations: three template styles cover the main industries, and brands only customise the theme colour and product models.
Onboarding was standardised into five steps: choose a style, customise theme colours, add product models, collect brand feedback, then test and polish.
During Double 11, 20+ brands went live in 3 weeks; a brand store could be onboarded in as little as 3–5 days.
3D play,
built for marketing
and participation
Everyday play answers the ongoing needs of users and merchants, and comes in two kinds: marketing play wins brands exposure, store visits and conversion; fun play drives time spent, return visits and sharing.
For each type we set the interaction goal first, then found the motivation to take part, and only then chose the form.
| Type | Goal | Motivation | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01Marketing play | Brand exposure / store visits / conversion | Deals and perks / virtual rewards | Red-packet hunts on the street, brand-store queue draws, capsule-toy draws for points |
| 02Fun play | Time spent / return visits / sharing | Achievement / scarcity / curiosity | Timed dance parties, celebration fireworks, avatar catwalk shows |
From watching live
to walking in.
Version 1.0 simply moved the live video and 2D product images into a 3D space. Version 2.0 brought streamer blending + 3D products + smart co-host interaction: the streamer is keyed into the scene, products, follow buttons and effects are all rendered in 3D, and the user stands right inside it.
Beyond live streams, browsing a store was rebuilt into three steps, “browse, get inspired, buy”: immersive product interaction, a 720° holographic product view, and ordering virtual products.
In a 3D world,
the UI steps back.
The interface is zoned by the user's questions: tasks and the map answer “where am I and what do I do”, the action area holds the joystick and follow controls, and live feedback, game controls, announcements and global functions each have a fixed place, while a clear safe zone keeps the view uncluttered.
Spaces are organised in levels: the level-1 space is the spawn point and outermost container, handling content distribution and global information; level-2 spaces are customised interaction containers; level-3 spaces are interaction sub-spaces, such as DIY decorating mode. Landscape and portrait framework guidelines keep every space consistent.
People stay.
Brands come in.
Taolive City launched during Double 11: average session 200 seconds, peak D1 return 23%; it drove 0.5–2M visits to brands, 10M to live rooms, and ¥20M+ in attributed GMV.
The project was also covered by WWD China, SocialBeta, COSMO and other media.
User behaviour
Business results