While content e-commerce in Southeast Asia still relies on influencers to boost GMV, TikTok Shop has quietly started to change its engine.

At the Southeast Asia Cross-border Annual Summit on May 22nd, the official released a clear signal: Self-broadcasting is the track worth heavy investment in the next stage.

This is not just slogans. The data provided by the platform are straightforward - the repurchase rate of self-broadcasting live rooms for cross-border merchants in Southeast Asia is significantly higher than that of influencer marketing. Especially in categories such as clothing, shoes and bags, beauty, and fast-moving consumer goods, the long-tail effect brought by self-broadcasting has emerged.

Why self-broadcasting?

The logic of influencer marketing is "one-time transaction" - the influencer comes, sells, and leaves, and neither the traffic nor the users belong to you. The logic of self-broadcasting is completely different: it is the merchant's own position, which can precipitate users, accumulate brand assets, and form a closed loop of repurchase.

In other words, influencer marketing solves "how to sell", while self-broadcasting solves "how to keep selling".

The platform summarized four long-term values of self-broadcasting: higher efficiency of product verification, controllable sales channels, precipitable repurchase closed loop, and accumulable brand assets. Combined with the cross-border "multi-market launch" feature, one live broadcast can also be distributed across markets, amplifying the ROI of a single event.

Five entries, suitable for players of different levels

For different types of merchants, TikTok Shop has sorted out five live broadcast paths:

• AI simultaneous interpretation (coming soon): Suitable for cold-start merchants with domestic live broadcast experience but lack of minor language hosts;

  
  

• Chinese domestic live broadcast room: Mainly targets Chinese audiences in Singapore and Malaysia, the first choice for cold start;

  
  

• English/minor language domestic live broadcast room: Covers non-Chinese markets such as Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines;

  
  

• English/minor language overseas live broadcast room: Suitable for well-established merchants to deeply cultivate specific markets;

  
  

• AI digital human live broadcast: Suitable for experienced merchants to fill positions at low cost during off-peak hours.

  
  

The path is clear, the key is to choose the right entry and quickly increase volume.

Four cases, four methods

Xtep: Penetrate the market with localized promotions

As a leading domestic sports brand, Xtep has made self-broadcasting the core of its content matrix, linking short video planting, local influencers, and refined store operations. During this year's Songkran Festival promotion in Thailand, they emphasized the selling points of "breathability and anti-slip" according to the local users' needs, and finally topped the sales. The method is not complicated, but it wins in implementation.

Bodiary: Chinese cold start, daily average GMV exceeded 20,000 USD in 2 months

After going overseas, this domestic mature bag brand prioritized layout in culturally similar Singapore. The domestic live broadcast room started broadcasting, with a 3-4 person lean team, initially driven by natural traffic + high-quality goods, without large-scale traffic investment. After running smoothly, they linked up with local influencers to form a "self-broadcasting + influencer" dual drive. A textbook operation during the cold start phase.

IF: Real person + AI digital human, revitalize all time periods

Facing the problems of high cost of local teams and difficulty in undertaking off-peak traffic, IF simplified and reused the mature domestic script framework. During peak hours, real hosts focus on interactive gift bags, and from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day, AI digital humans do standardized explanations to avoid traffic loss. Dual tracks run in parallel, maximizing efficiency.

UYAAI: Turn the live broadcast room into a user education position

Contact lenses belong to medical device category, and consumer decision-making emphasizes trust. UYAAI has set up local subsidiaries and teams in multiple countries, demonstrating the wearing effects of different skin colors, makeup, and scenarios in live broadcasts, answering questions about care and wearing. Live broadcast feedback directly feeds back product iteration. This is a typical "trust-driven" self-broadcast case.

Official support keeps up, incentives increase

At present, TikTok Shop merchant backend has launched "merchant self-broadcast education position", covering live broadcast room construction, script, localized operation to traffic play. At the same time, Southeast Asia cross-border self-broadcast incentive policy has been opened simultaneously, including live broadcast incentives and GMV ranking competition, with a maximum subsidy of 6,500 USD. The live broadcast auction function is also expected to be launched in Q3.

One sentence summary

For Southeast Asian cross-border merchants, self-broadcasting is no longer a multiple-choice question, but a compulsory question. The difference lies only in whether you answer first or later.