Live streaming in Singapore: It's sales and it's entertainment

The highly interactive format can be very lucrative business for some entrepreneurs 

- Joyce Lim

As the live-streaming trend gains ground, entrepreneurs such as Mr Patrick Low are seizing the opportunity to harness its potential for sales.

Often clad in a T-shirt and bermudas on camera, the 47-year-old charms his audience with his brand of charisma and quick wit, from the moment he hits the "live" button on his mobile phone.

"Hello, good morning! Please help to like and share," says Mr Low, at the start of one of his streams promoting mostly health supplements but also skincare products such as sunscreen mists.

Viewers, whom he greets by name, type their comments and send animated red hearts and thumbs-up symbols popping up from the bottom of the video feed.

To Mr Low, live streams are not just about a sales pitch, he told The Sunday Times, but an opportunity to forge a connection with each viewer at every session, seven days a week.

As the comments pour in, he effortlessly juggles answering questions with extolling the virtues of the product, creating an atmosphere that feels more like a virtual hangout than a shopping channel.

When it is time to get down to business, Mr Low seamlessly transitions into sales mode, unleashing a torrent of deals like "buy one, get one free" and promoting "musthave" products such as a heart of palm vegetable supplement.

Viewers who want to buy a product type its code into the comment field and pay through real-time payment system PayNow or a bank transfer.

With the potential to generate tens of thousands of dollars in just a couple of hours, live-stream selling has emerged as a lucrative venture, attracting a myriad of entrepreneurs, actors and entertainers eager to cash in.

Some 45 minutes into his live stream on March 25, Mr Low had more than 1,000 views. It is not uncommon to receive hundreds of orders to the tune of over $10,000 in a typical two-hour session like that one, he said.