Growth, business and the brand safety blindspot in live commerce

Major consumer packaged goods (CPG) and beauty brands spend millions to capture consumer attention while enforcing strict digital advertising guidelines. Ads must be seen by real humans, displayed in brand-safe environments, and fully visible for a set duration to ensure engagement. This meticulous approach is meant to guarantee that every second of consumer attention is maximised and measured.

 

For global brands like Unilever and P&G, it has become a utility—a non-negotiable requirement before they invest in digital advertising.

 

Well, that last statement isn’t entirely true.

 

Let me explain.

 

New era, old mistakes: The rise of live commerce

 

Just over four years ago, as e-commerce skyrocketed during the pandemic, a new phenomenon quietly spread from China across Southeast Asia: live commerce.

 

Big and small brands alike jumped in. However, with traditional agencies lacking expertise in the space, a wave of independent shops sprang up, working without rule books and making it up as they went along.

 

Fast forward to today, and some brands have built massive Live Commerce channels, generating millions (or even billions) in gross merchandise volume (GMV). The US alone could see US$55 billion in Live Commerce sales by 2026, triple what it was in 2022.

 

The scale is indeed staggering. In just four weeks (October-November 2024), e-commerce startup Outlandish facilitated 3,000 hours of live content across 1,300 livestreams in the US, generating $1.2 million in sales.

 

However, nothing outside of China compares to Indonesia’s rapid e-commerce and live commerce growth.

 

Indonesia stands at the forefront of Southeast Asia, contributing 46.9% of the region’s total e-commerce GMV, with Shopee dominating the market at $55.1 billion and a 48% share.

 

Despite TikTok’s short-lived ban, Indonesia has become a poster child for live commerce success, too. Take Wardah Beauty, an Indonesian cosmetics brand: On 11/11 last year, they ran a 35-hour live stream that attracted 270,000 viewers, according to Stickler, a Live Commerce SaaS platform. Meanwhile, L’Oréal runs over 8,000 hours of live commerce per month in Indonesia across its brands.

 

Live commerce is no doubt shaping Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape, driving unprecedented growth and transforming how brands engage with consumers. Leading this surge is TikTok Shop, which saw its GMV nearly quadruple from $4.4 billion in 2022 to $16.3 billion in 2023—a clear indicator of the platform’s meteoric rise and its pivotal role in shaping social and Live commerce.

 

Meanwhile, in Thailand, live commerce accounted for 10% of alternative e-commerce in 2022, the highest share across Southeast Asia (fintechnews.sg). Brands leveraging platforms like Shopee Live have seen viewer numbers triple and sales growth accelerate by 10x year-on-year. 

 

With conversion rates from live commerce streams hitting 10-20%, it’s clear that this format delivers not just engagement but measurable sales impact. This explosive growth underscores a critical truth: live commerce, spearheaded by platforms like TikTok, is not just an emerging trend—it’s a transformative force driving the next chapter of Southeast Asia’s digital economy.

 

However, acknowledging the potential and power of live commerce is a far different animal to understanding the platform and what the medium requires to ensure success.

 

Nothing trumps firsthand experience

 

If brands genuinely value consumer attention, why are they so rigorous about six-second video ads yet ignore the standards for six-hour livestreams?

 

A million hours of consumer attention is still a million hours.

 

Whether it’s a perfectly crafted 15-second Instagram ad or a messy two-hour TikTok stream, every second is an opportunity to educate, build brand loyalty, and drive sales.

 

So why wouldn’t brands apply the same brand safety, quality control, and optimisation standards across all channels?

 

In December 2023, I conducted a small-scale LinkedIn poll to gauge industry professionals’ familiarity with TikTok Shop. The findings were revealing—though not surprising.

 

The majority (80%) of mid-to-senior brand marketers and agency executives either did not have TikTok installed or had never purchased from TikTok Shop.

 

In other words, the very people responsible for allocating ad budgets to live commerce had no firsthand experience of the consumer journey. Why is this an issue? Simply put, because success in this format is deeply linked to consumer engagement and the full consumer journey of a brand relationship around all forms of content, including paid, owned and earned media. Without an understanding of this, let alone the experience of buying Live, what right do you have to be guiding a brand?

 

According to Stickler, some brand live streams have up to 25% “silent hours," during which hosts are off-camera, distracted, or dealing with technical issues. Some hosts even scroll on their phones, talk to people off-camera, or get bored and start singing.

(Watch the reference video below to spot critical brand safety issues: poor makeup application, horror-themed looks, the host looking down or speaking off-camera, silent moments, inappropriate skin-whitening messaging, and products hidden by TikTok borders.)

 

For the brand, this is clearly a disaster.

 

A disengaged host, off-brand script, or a few seconds of silence instantly pushes viewers to scroll away, turning an expensive, high-production livestream into wasted airtime. Worse still, brands then spend even more on ads and promotions just to drive viewers back to the very same broken experience.

 

 

Bringing order to the Wild West

 

The live commerce brand safety gap is massive—and growing.

 

With brands investing heavily in the space but not enforcing the same quality controls they demand elsewhere, we’re on the verge of a brand safety crisis that could cost millions in wasted media, lost engagement, reputational damage, and, most importantly, sales. 

 

Legal and compliance teams at major brands should be alarmed. Because right now, live commerce is the Wild West—and brands that don’t act risk paying the price.
 

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