Instead of just posting photos of her products on her Instagram feed, Mdm Hanis Shahilla, owner of online shop @xoxo.lunasophia, holds Instagram live streams to sell her products.

 

Like her, many online businesses are using the ‘Live’ features available on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to sell their products to a larger audience.

 

“I personally loved watching live streams and have always dreamt of doing one of my own,” Mdm Hanis says. “It’s fun to actually get to interact with the people behind the screen live.”

 

“It’s a good experience and a good way to let people see the person behind the screen they’re buying from,” says Mdm Hanis.

 

There are also other entrepreneurs such as Bob, owner of a Facebook business Bob Senget Global Enterprise, who turned to live streaming during the pandemic and has gone viral ever since funny moments from his streams circulated on other social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok. Other apparel shops on Instagram like @vintagewknd and @cloud9studio are well-known among online customers for holding frequent live streams.

 

Through ‘Live’ features on Instagram and Facebook, businesses are promoting their products to their followers and potential customers. Each product has a corresponding code. To confirm their purchase, customers either type out the code in the comments section as fast as they can, if they are participating in an auction, or directly message the code to the owner. After the live stream has ended, businesses can also choose to upload the whole stream on their page for potential customers who may have missed it.

 

Ms Nur Firzah, 20, is an avid viewer of such e-commerce live streams. She was not a huge spender, but this has changed ever since she started watching live streams.

 

Ms Firzah says: “Ever since the trend of live streams and auctions started, I think I watch them at least once or twice a month and will definitely purchase something!”

 

Youthoria conducted a survey to learn respondents’ experience with e-commerce live streams. Out of 103 respondents, 61 said they had recently watched a live stream on either Facebook or Instagram. Apparel came in first as 59 of the respondents’ most purchased product categories.

 

Before e-commerce live streams rose in popularity, online businesses would normally promote products through posts on their social media pages or websites. Customers would then purchase through the websites or directly messaging the online shops. With more businesses jumping on this bandwagon of live streams, the buying process has become easier, more interesting and thorough for customers.

 

Ms Siti Najiha, 21, loves watching live streams held by shops selling apparel and stationery. She prefers buying her clothes through streams, as she is able to “see the product in full” and “ask the [seller] to try it on to see if it fits [her]”.

 

Ms Hannah Adira, 19, is another customer who frequently tunes in to live streams conducted by her favourite Instagram apparel shops.

 

Ms Hannah says: “For the two sellers that I watch, their owners are actually very lively and funny, so it makes shopping a lot more interesting than just scrolling through a website or photos.”

 

Other than being able to interact with sellers, many also prefer purchasing through e-commerce live streams due to the products’ quality. Ms Firzah believes that clothes she purchased through live streams are “definitely cheaper than other clothes she has purchased in physical stores for the same quality”.

These live streams have proven to be a form of support for Mdm Hanis and her business. After starting her business in early October 2020, Mdm Hanis did her first Instagram Live one day before the 11/11 sale, and has done four similar sessions since. She mentions that conducting live streams has helped her as they are a quicker way to boost her sales.

 

Furthermore, since her viewers share links to her streams to their friends, it has helped her gain more followers and new loyal customers.

 

However, selling products through live streams has not entirely been easy for Mdm Hanis. She mentions that doing everything by herself was tiring, with many comments coming in and her not wanting to bother her husband or friends. Other businesses also face this problem, and chose to launch a separate account in order to deal with the overwhelming response of purchases.

 

In contrast, from a customer’s perspective, Ms Hannah does not think that it would be feasible for large-scale businesses to continue holding live streams. She feels that when more customers start watching the live streams, it might be “a bit exhausting to shop” in a case where she “[sat] through the whole live only not to be able to get anything [she] wanted.”

 

As an online business owner whose shop is still emerging, Mdm Hanis says that she definitely sees herself holding more live streams in the near future.