TikTok unlocks cross-border trade for Singapore retailers

Influencer videos that go viral help sell products across the globe.

Singaporean retailers are harnessing the power of TikTok to reach more customers across the globe — mostly young adults who thrive on funny moments and pranks — using short-form videos from influencers.

With more than a billion active users worldwide and a unique algorithm that gives small content creators a better chance of going viral, TikTok can help brands get seen without having to pay more famous TikTokers top dollars.

“Unlike the marketing of yesteryear which tended to focus more on celebrities or big names, the everyday influencer is more relatable and has a much stronger influence on the current generation of social media consumers,” Chenhao Zhu, co-founder of SpoonX Marketing Agency, told Singapore Business Review.

“Influencer marketing can be very powerful in starting trends and effectively growing strong demand for products in markets very far away from their initial home market or target audience,” he added.

The influencer marketing industry is estimated to grow to $24b by year-end, with 63% of brands planning to use artificial intelligence (AI) to execute their influencer campaigns, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.

TikTok, which has been downloaded 4.92 billion times and is used by 69% of brands that use influencer marketing, is by far the most popular influencer marketing channel, now well ahead of Instagram (47%), YouTube (33%), and Facebook (28%), it said.

Zhu said retailers are on the right track by focusing on Singaporeans in the 25-34 age group, as this demographic is known to have a strong attachment to TikTok.

Brands can also gain consumer trust and brand reputation since social media allows people to freely share opinions on a product and hold brands accountable when needed. Influencer marketing can either make or break a brand’s image.

“Retailers cannot get away with taking the easy route of merely buying influencers to say good things about their product if it isn't a good product,” Zhu said.

TikTok had 3.38 million users aged 18 and above in Singapore at the start of 2024, according to ByteDance. One in four Singaporeans preferred TikTok when making cross-border purchases on social media platforms, according to data from fintech firm Airwallex.

One TikTok feature that can broaden audience reach is livestreaming, which Benew used to penetrate the Malaysian market.

“We schedule livestreaming sessions regularly and post videos on our TikTok page often,” Benew founder Aqilah Adnan said. “This has built a stable stream of viewers from countries like Malaysia, [which] has spurred us to expand [there], driven by the encouraging support we received from Malaysian viewers.”

In addition to increasing visibility, Benew uses social media for cost-effective campaigns with a wider reach.

“One great thing about TikTok is how, with luck and a bit of thought in coming up with the right tags, our content can be viewed by people across the world without them having to first search for our brand name,” Adnan said.

But TikTok also presents challenges for cross-border shopping. The platform's yellow basket feature, which allows users to buy products during livestreams, is restricted to viewers from the same region as the brand.

“Even though the yellow basket feature is only accessible to viewers in our region, we have received inquiries and interest from viewers in other regions during our TikTok lives,” Adnan said.

‘Ahead of the game’
To address this, Benew uses Instagram for international orders. “We personally contact interested viewers and direct them to our website for their purchases.”

TikTok trends also allow Singapore retailers to introduce international brands to the local market. US products such as the Stanley Cup and Prime Hydration drink, as well as Fix Chocolate from Dubai, all of which went viral on TikTok, have made their way to Singapore due to high demand.

“Local retailers such as Takashimaya have brought in the Stanley Cup, supermarkets like NTUC Fairprice have brought in Prime Hydration drinks, and shops like The SGFR Store have also brought in both the Prime Hydration drinks as well as Fix Chocolate,” Zhu said.

“The SGFR Store in particular has been great in identifying and trying to stay ahead of the game by bringing in viral products as soon as they can and doing a fantastic job at marketing them on their own TikTok channel,” he added.

However, the way TikTok reshapes the e-commerce market is far more complex than it sounds. For example, Zhu noted that products can fade just as quickly as they went viral.

“Since most retailers are still bogged down by traditionally tedious and long processes of procurement, logistics, and stocking, they might not be agile enough to respond to and take advantage of retail trends on social media,” he said.

Retailers should therefore start their own trends to stimulate sales, Zhu said. It helps that because social media is not restricted by borders, regional content may become more culturally blended and appeal to a broader audience.

“This means that while brands currently grapple with the decision of whether to have a general Southeast Asian social media account or one that's more country-specific, in the future this decision may not be as difficult to make,” he said.

Smaller brands like Benew will keep trying to shorten the sales process. “Of course, we will continue to post tailored content that can convert viewership to sales.”