What was changed
Pham Van Thoai, a shopping influencer in Ho Chi Minh City, treated each livestream as a sales performance. His challenge was not merely to appear on camera but to persuade thousands of viewers to buy products ranging from bags and shoes to smartphones.
He chose theatricality as the conversion device. In one recent session he used heavy makeup, karaoke, and even a horse to attract attention and keep viewers watching. The spectacle made the stream distinctive while leaving the commercial objective explicit: viewers came to buy.
The figures he highlighted showed the result. Thoai recalled a moment when 2,000 electric toothbrushes sold in one minute, while the audience climbed from 10,000 to 20,000 viewers. He told Rest of World that livestreaming had transformed his life, although the format remained exposed to platform and policy changes.
What it achieved
Thoai highlighted 2,000 electric toothbrushes sold in one minute as his audience rose from 10,000 to 20,000 viewers.
Why it worked
Livestream shopping needed more than product listings; sellers had to hold attention long enough to trigger a purchase.
A distinctive performance gave a creator a way to stand out among millions of sellers using platforms such as TikTok Shop, Daraz, and Shopee.
Real-time orders and viewer counts gave Thoai immediate feedback on whether attention was converting into demand.
What can be applied
In live commerce, attention is only the first conversion: engineer an entertaining reason to stay, then give the audience a simple path to buy.
Aftermath
By November 2023, livestreaming had become Thoai's income path and he was measuring success in real time through orders and viewers. The same platform dependence that enabled rapid sales also left the career vulnerable to policy shifts.
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