The pull of live-stream shopping and the vital deep breath before checkout

The only thing that stands in the way between that convincing on-screen seller and my next impulse buy is a pause to rethink.

- Diane Leow Editor, Newsroom Insights

It's 9pm and my 31/2-year-old daughter has been tucked into bed. It is now that I retreat into my room for my (and dare I say, many mums’) favourite pastime: doomscrolling on Instagram and TikTok.

With every few scrolls, a TikTok live video pops up. I’m instantly transported to neighbourhood makeshift stalls where a promoter hawks their ware - be it a new pot, a suspiciously effective face cream or perhaps a unique dishwashing sponge that promises to leave your dishes sparkling in just a matter of seconds.

These promoters have now found their way into my palm, late into the night.

Some become familiar. If I tap into the live stream, they address me by name (or, well, my username). Every customer is “my dear”, and if they speak Mandarin, “baobei” is interchangeably used to address prospects.

If you're new to buying through live streaming, the process is somewhat thrilling.

These content creators stream almost daily, promoting different household or skincare products and even food items. Their product demonstrations happen in real time, with consumers sending in questions as they watch. Conversely, the hosts are monitoring several screens at once — their live streams could be broadcast beyond TikTok. Shopee Live is gaining popularity, and overseas retailers could also be live-streaming on other apps such as RedNote.

There is, however, a whole different language around TikTok live streams. I quickly surmised that words such as “giveaway”, “website” and “Shopee” were taboo. Instead, “giveaway” is referred to as “GA”; “website” is just “W” and “Shopee” is known as “orange app” - presumably to not be seen as directing viewers away from the TikTok platform.

On TikTok, a little tap on an icon of a shopping bag enters you in a giveaway by the seller. You're incentivised to keep watching, because of the chance to win a full-sized bottle of moisturiser or an equally valuable item.