A new report from Milieu Insight looks into the livestream shopping phenomena in Southeast Asia as more consumers seek interactive shopping experiences within the comfort of their homes.
The popularity of livestream shopping has skyrocketed in recent years, providing a new and engaging way for consumers to discover and purchase products. The medium comes in a variety of ways including live product demonstrations, virtual shopping guides, or engaging social media influencer hosts.
According to a study from Milieu Insight, livestream shopping “is changing the way consumers shop and interact with brands in Southeast Asia.”
The study was conducted on livestreaming shopping behaviors and preferences with N=9000 respondents in Southeast Asia with N=1,500 each from Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Vietnamese consumers watch livestream sales videos most frequently, with 65% indicating that they do so at least once a week, followed by consumers in Thailand (57%) and Malaysia (48%).
The findings showed that nearly 5 in 10 consumers in Southeast Asia tune in to livestream sales at least once a week with 63% of them having made a purchase.
Key Findings
- Across the region, 82% have ever watched a livestream sales video, among which 48% watch them at least once a week.
Vietnamese consumers watch livestream sales videos most frequently, with 65% indicating that they do so at least once a week, followed by consumers in Thailand (57%) and Malaysia (48%) - 63% of those who have watched livestream sales videos have made a purchase, again, highest in Vietnam (79%) and lowest in Singapore (40%)
- “Clothing & Shoes” easily tops the list of product categories that consumers bought via livestream (59%), skewing towards Filipino consumers (73%)
- Consumers in Singapore and Thailand (41% anf 44% respectively) tend to purchase “Grocery & Food” via livestream, more so than others in the region
- The top reasons why Southeast Asian consumers enjoy watching livestream sales videos are:
- There are many promotions/ discounts (46%)
- Able to understand the product in greater detail (39%)
- I can shop without having to go to a physical store (37%)
- I can easily get answers to my questions about the product by posting a comment (37%)
- I can discover new products (32%)
Consumers are approaching livestream sales videos with curiosity
- Consumers usually go into livestream videos already knowing what they want to buy, but 7 in 10 are open to buying products that interest them
- 43% of shoppers in the region said that when they watch livestream sales videos, they already know what they want to buy, but are open to buying other products that interest them
- Similarly, another 29% is open to buying products that interest them, but they usually go in without knowing what they want to buy
- When asked what consumers like about shopping via livestreams, 38% in Singapore and the Philippines said that it is because they can discover new products
Marketplace ecommerce still triumphs over livestream shopping as preferred online shopping method
- Respondents were asked to rank their preferred online shopping methods among these 4 methods: 1) Marketplace ecommerce platforms, 2) Brands or retailers’ websites, 3) Brands or retailers’ social media 4) Livestream videos
- Shopping on marketplace ecommerce platforms tops the list (32%), while preferences are similar across the 3 other channels
What about the hesitant?
- Among those who have watched a livestream sales video but yet to make a purchase (30% of the 9000 respondents surveyed), the top reasons for so are:
- Unsure about the quality of the products (43%)
- I’ve not seen a product that I wanted to purchase (39%)
- I’m worried that they are scams (eg. don’t receive the product I buy, or the products are fake) (34%)
- When asked about the likelihood of them ever making a purchase via livestream videos, the opinions are split – 48% indicated very or somewhat likely
- In Singapore, nearly 8 in 10 said that they are somewhat or very unlikely to do so
Featured image: Ivan Samkov
