South-east Asian merchants embracing livestream sales

THE use of livestreaming to sell products has ballooned in South-east Asia this year, according to a survey of regional businesses.

That's even as e-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) rose to US$1.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, among the more than 1,000 sellers polled in four key markets.

Their GMV for that period was more than five times the US$237,000 in the first three months, the industry data from Taiwanese artificial intelligence startup iKala showed.