'Auntie' sellers go live on TikTok

Peddling food, kitchen appliances and more, middle-aged content creators are being trained by TikTok as the social media platform ramps up its e-commerce operation

- Teo Kai Xiang

At Tiong Bahru Market, Ms Christina Gwee, 50, armed with a tripod and two smartphones, is setting up her TikTok show in front of a fruit stall.

Once the live stream begins, her on-screen persona "Aunty Jin" emerges, speaking at breakneck pace into a $30 detachable microphone as she greets her first viewers by name, much like a shopkeeper would her regulars.

Only here, the mother of two boys, aged 17 and 19, adds: "Please help me like and share the channel."

Once enough viewers have piled in, she begins her spiel, hawking $5 Turkish plum boxes and $2 heirloom tomato punnets to an audience that soon grows to 100 online.

Theirs is a rapid-fire exchange as she holds up fruit after fruit, asking the stall's owner to explain an item while she responds to messages.

One viewer asks: "Is it sweet?"

"Boss, I want tomatoes, can deliver?" goes another.

"Skibidi," writes one user.

In a testament to how commonplace content creators have become in Singapore, people mill about doing their shopping, paying her no mind while she addresses her smartphone camera.

By the end of the 30-minute live stream, she has gained over 2,700 impressions - the cumulative number of people who have seen it - as well as 38 new followers for the fruit stall's social media account.

Though no sales materialized - the business' TikTok shop is not yet operational - Aunty Jin considers this a victory. An inaugural live stream for the fruit stall, it is just a taste of the sweet fruit of sales to come, she hopes.

INSIDE THE SCHOOL OF TIKTOK

Ms Gwee, a former cafe owner, is one of more than 200 recent graduates of TikTok's Live Host Academy, part of the social media platform's aggressive expansion of its e-commerce operation.

In July, TikTok told The Sunday Times the company aims to train 400 live-selling hosts in Singapore in 2025 - though not all of them are Gen Xers aged 45 to 60.