Fishmonger Gets Rich Thanks to Livestreaming

Up until now, after three years of livestreaming, Ms. Cao Hai Anh still cannot explain why every day there are 2,000 to 3,000 people watching her scale, gut fish, and peel shrimp. The 36-year-old owner of a fresh seafood stall in Trai Bo market, Long Binh ward, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province said that at many times the number of viewers reached more than 20,000 "eyes".

"They don't watch all at once, but continuously monitor my 8-9 hour sales session," Hai Anh said.

The couple started selling at the market in 2014. Occasionally, during quiet times, Hai Anh turns on her phone to livestream and talk to strangers to relieve boredom.

After a while, she noticed that her sales had improved. The number of strangers coming to her fish stall had increased. Many times, she had to move to another location, but customers texted her asking for a new place to buy from.

Not only did the number of customers at the market increase, viewers of Hai Anh's livestream saw that the seafood was fresh, of good quality and reasonably priced, so they ordered online. Up to now, the number of online orders accounts for 50%. On average, the couple sells about 100 kg of various goods per day, 2-2.5 times more than before. The female trader's personal page currently has more than 297,000 followers and 6.1 million likes.

The personal page of fried banana shop owner Le Quoc Truong with 295,000 followers and 63.7 million likes is the envy of many.

"It's all thanks to two livestream sessions a day, just filming the banana frying scene. After three years, I got this result," said Mr. Truong.

Like Ms. Hai Anh, Mr. Truong did not intend to livestream to sell products. It all started from a day of watching the shop for his wife on Truong Cong Dinh Street, Ward 2, Soc Trang City. The 33-year-old man tied his phone to an electric pole to livestream, introducing the process of frying cakes and chatting to relieve boredom.

"I didn't expect so many people to watch, so I continued to livestream the following days," said Mr. Truong. Up to now, his schedule has been fixed at two sessions per day, each session lasting 3-5 hours, attracting an average of 1.5 million views.

Before livestreaming, his banana cake stall sold nearly a hundred pieces a day, mainly serving people in the area. But after becoming famous online, his sales were consistently around 300 pieces. There were days when he couldn’t serve enough, so he had to make an appointment for the next day.

Not stopping at selling cakes, Mr. Truong opened a cart selling fried flour to serve customers from far away. At first, only a few customers bought, but now he and his wife sell 100 kg of flour every day, the family's income has increased significantly.

Ms. Hai Anh and Mr. Quoc Truong are two of many small traders who unexpectedly became rich thanks to livestreaming, sharing about their daily work on social networks. Unlike professional sellers (KOL, KOC), most small traders come to this form of business by chance without knowing that they have joined the shoppertaiment trend - online shopping combined with entertainment.

The term "shoppertaiment" combines the words shopper and entertainment and first appeared in 1993 but only became widely known in 2016 when Lazada developed interactive livestream sales.

Accenture and TikTok’s 2024 report says shoppertainment is driving e-commerce growth, with the market expected to reach $1 trillion by 2025 in the Asia-Pacific region alone.

On social media platforms, there are hundreds of accounts of small traders, with quite diverse occupations, from traders at traditional markets, chicken farm owners, and even people who fish for eels at night in the fields.

These accounts mostly do not sell directly but only share their daily work. Customers nearby can go to the sales location to experience the product or call the seller to place an order.

Ms. Vu Dieu Thuy, livestream training instructor and CEO of Kolin Academy, said authenticity and the need to connect with the community are the main reasons why seemingly normal livestreams attract a large number of viewers.

According to this CEO, audiences are increasingly tired of perfectly staged content and "deal-making, price-raising" livestreams. Therefore, real livestreams show unedited daily life, with elements of intimacy, arousing curiosity and interest in viewers. In the digital age, many people seek the feeling of participating in a community, learning a lot of practical knowledge (how to choose products, processing techniques) naturally without dogma through online interactions with sellers. Sometimes, simplicity and humorous situations, natural dialogue make the livestream sessions of small traders interesting.

"These factors combine to create a special appeal for live livestreams, making them a popular content trend on social media platforms," ​​said Ms. Thuy.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Minh Cuong, Deputy Director of Business Culture, Vietnam Association for Development of Business Culture, commented that livestreaming to share the daily lives of small traders is a very effective way of advertising.

"Turning normal work into an artistic activity and integrating personal branding through stories is a smart way to promote business," said Mr. Cuong.

However, CEO Vu Dieu Thuy believes that small businesses should have a systematic development strategy, understand the algorithm, and how to build a product funnel that is suitable for their resources to ensure sustainability and competitiveness. Channel owners must also pay attention to the risks of returned goods.

Not only regularly livestreaming, many small businesses have improved their knowledge to attract more viewers and expand their customer base. Ms. Kim Chi, owner of a roast duck stall in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City is an example.

Thanks to her charming speaking skills and fluency in English and Chinese, Kim Chi's livestreams attract many foreigners to watch. Many people living or traveling through Ho Chi Minh City have come to the restaurant to try it out of curiosity.

The 37-year-old woman from Ben Tre has been selling roast pork in Ho Chi Minh City for 12 years. Previously, the shop only had regular customers, but since learning about livestreaming, her shop has become very crowded. Sales have increased by nearly 50%.

"Being famous also makes me more strict in checking product quality, thanks to social networks that help small businesses like us increase income," said Ms. Chi.