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About a year ago, I remember reading up on the phenomenon of “influencer factories” in China.
The main thing that caught me off guard was how manufactured it all was, given that livestreaming and live shopping were meant to be experiences that were a little more “real” and difficult to script.
So while there aren’t any “scripts,” the content that comes out of these factories still feels a bit too inauthentic, given how similar these influencers end up seeming.
Still, many sellers are turning to live commerce as they see it as a viable avenue for income. Because of this, selling on TikTok Shop is becoming hugely popular in Southeast Asia.
The question is, is it truly sustainable?
Today we look at:
- Whether TikTok Shop’s live-commerce trend is here to stay
- A US$21 million series B round for a Vietnamese biotech firm
- Other newsy highlights such as Ant Group adding seven new payment methods to Alipay+ as well as China’s BYD setting the retail price for its Dolphin EV in Japan.
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Living off live commerce
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Honestly, being a live-commerce host sounds like one of those jobs that could be fun the first few times you try it but gets a lot more difficult to keep up with as you do it more. Still, it seems like many people have been drawn to it, for monetary reasons or otherwise.
- Panem et circenses: Social Bread is an Indonesian ecommerce enabler that recently opened a creator hub in BSD City. According to CEO Edho Pratama, about 200 clients have booked the firm’s live-selling services for September, with 80% of those bookings intended for TikTok Shop.
- Class is in session: There are several options for people to get started with live commerce. Apart from receiving training from ecommerce enablers, there are also specialized agencies such as Ninja Van’s LiveChamp, which provides product management, promotion, and financing solutions for live selling.
- Overshadowed: TikTok Shop is rapidly gaining ground on other ecommerce platforms in Southeast Asia. In 2022, its market share in the region stood at an estimated 4.4%. This year, that same figure is roughly 13.2%.
Read more: TikTok’s live-commerce boom: hustler’s paradise or fleeting trend?
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