In 2024, beauty brand P.Louise hosted a 12-hour TikTok live shopping marathon that generated USD 2 million in sales. That translates to two products sold every second.
According to Grand View Research, the live commerce sector will continue to expand rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% from 2024 to 2030. By 2030, the market is expected to reach approximately USD 77.89 billion.
Selling real-time, at scale, will be the new frontier of commerce in APAC.
The new frontier of shopping
At its core, live commerce is a dynamic combination of live streaming and online shopping that offers users a highly engaging shopping experience. The magic lies in its ability to blend:
- Entertainment: Hosts bring personality, humor, and storytelling.
- Interaction: Viewers can ask questions, comment, and receive instant responses.
- Shopping: Seamless integration of “add-to-cart” moments right inside the stream.
- AI and data-driven insights: AI and real-time analytics enable platforms to optimize scripts, recommend top-performing products, and predict peak engagement windows, turning live selling into a precise, data-driven growth engine.
All of this happens in real time, turning what used to be a static product page into a dynamic experience. Shoppers see products in motion, explained by a trusted host, and validated through live audience reactions. The result? Higher conversions, stronger loyalty, and repeat purchases.
And this is why live commerce has become one of the fastest-growing drivers of e-commerce today.
1. Social and commerce integration
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are no longer just places for sharing photos and connecting with friends. They’ve evolved into powerful shopping destinations where shopping features are seamlessly embedded within the app. Users can now discover a product from a post, watch a shoppable video, and complete their purchase without ever leaving the app.
2. Digital-savvy consumers
Gen Z and Millennials are driving this wave as digital natives who have grown up with social media as their primary source of information, replacing search engines to an extent. Nearly 48% of Gen Z and 51% of millennials use them to search for product information.
3. Engagement and trust
Live sessions allow customers to see, ask, and interact in ways traditional e-commerce pages can’t match. Whether it’s asking about product sizing, watching a demonstration, or connecting with other viewers in real-time chats, the result is multidimensional trust, both rational and emotional.
The rise of influencers in live selling
69% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers, friends, and family more than information that comes directly from a brand. An authentic recommendation from a trusted influencer holds the same weight as advice from a close friend. In Southeast Asia, consumers lean strongly on influencer videos during the consideration stage, valuing the authentic insights and relatable storytelling that help bridge the gap between curiosity and purchase.
Source: SEA Digital Landscape 2025 Report
This new reality has given rise to e-Selling Opinion Leaders (ESOLs), the third evolution of influencer marketing. ESOLs move beyond celebrity endorsements and broad social media followings to a focus on measurable sales conversions. They are sophisticated creators and domain experts who leverage their credibility and deep understanding of digital commerce platforms to drive tangible sales for brands.
ESOLs are fundamentally different from traditional influencers in several ways:
- ESOLs build long-term partnerships with brands, using deep product knowledge to drive sales from discovery to purchase in a single engagement.
- They often earn through commission or revenue-sharing, with top-tier ESOLs acting as always-on retailers committed to delivering specific GMV.
- ESOLs can guide followers and audience through the entire marketing funnel, from discovery, interest, consideration to conversion and loyalty, sometimes all within one interaction.
- Build Awareness by introducing a new product.
- Generate Interest through demonstrations.
- Drive Consideration by addressing real-time questions.
- Spark Conversion with limited-time offers and social proof.
Live commerce is the future of shopping
The growth of live commerce is a direct response to a shift in consumer behavior enabled by technological advancements. What makes it so powerful is its ability to compress the traditional marketing funnel. In just one live session, a charismatic host can:
The entire customer journey, once spread across weeks or months, happens in minutes. This new reality requires brands to shift their focus from nurturing leads through a long funnel to mastering the art of live storytelling and creating moments of purchase urgency.
Also see: Why you should consider live commerce for your brand’s next growth move
Live, social, and global with AnyMind
While the potential of live commerce is immense, it’s not without its challenges. The need for constant operation, multilingual support, and real-time optimization can be daunting.
AnyMind’s AI live streaming platform, AnyLive is designed to meet these challenges head-on.
AnyLive offers a hybrid operational model that combines the best of human and artificial intelligence (AI). Human hosts can drive sales spikes during peak hours, while human-like AI avatars provide continuous, 24/7 coverage, ensuring your digital storefront is always open.
Beyond round-the-clock operation, AnyLive uses artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency. The platform’s AI can automatically respond to common viewer questions in live chat, freeing up human moderators to focus on more complex interactions. It even leverages large-language models (LLMs) to optimize live stream scripts based on past performance data. This turns live commerce into a data-driven sales engine, enabling brands to make informed decisions and maximize their return on investment.
Most importantly, AnyLive is built to make every business borderless. With the ability to stream simultaneously across leading e-commerce and social platforms like TikTok Shop, Shopee, and Lazada, it ensures brands can reach audiences wherever they are. Beyond reach, AnyLive supports multiple languages, breaking down linguistic and geographical barriers that once made cross-border live commerce complex and resource-intensive.
The future of shopping is here, and it’s live. It’s a world where authenticity and interaction drive sales, and where technology empowers businesses to connect with a global audience from a single, unified platform.
