THE SECRET OF LIVE STREAMING MARKETING IN 2026:
WHEN E-COMMERCE GROWTH SLOWS DOWN, WHAT SHOULD A BRAND DO NEXT?
Do you remember how many of your purchases were placed online in 2025? Back then during the pandemic in 2020, nearly all consumption was handled through online shopping as people stayed indoors, with e-commerce growth reaching as high as 30.91%. However, as restrictions were lifted and overseas travel surged, more consumers have returned to physical stores or adopted omnichannel shopping. According to statistics from Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, the size of Taiwan’s online retail market reached NT$653.3 billion in 2024, with an annual growth rate of only 2.65%. Economic Daily News reported that this indicates the e-commerce market has shifted from a period of rapid growth to one of slower growth.
However, amid this fiercely competitive “red ocean,” an elite force has risen to prominence: live commerce. First emerging in China, livestreaming combines entertainment and sales functions, winning strong favor among consumers. In this article, AsiaKOL takes a closer look at the advantages of live-commerce marketing and the key strategies behind its success.
1. Why Does Watching A Livestream Make People Want To Buy? Because It Taps Directly Into The Emotional Psychology Of Viewers
Traditional e-commerce marketing primarily relies on images, text, and ad placements, focusing on traffic conversion and optimizing the shopping process. In contrast, live commerce marketing combines real-time interaction, content experience, and interpersonal trust, transforming "shopping" into a sense of "participation."
According to Business Weekly, the keyword for brand livestream e-commerce in 2025 is "emotion." In the past, consumers might have chosen online shopping simply because they were too lazy to go out. But now, consumers focus on cost-effectiveness (CP value). It's not that they can't spend money, but rather that they want to feel that their money is well spent. Shopping behavior has evolved into an experience that caters to consumers' emotions. With the rise of short-form videos in the digital age, consumption behaviors are becoming increasingly fragmented. To drive consumers' intrinsic motivation, it’s essential to tap into their psychology, and this is where livestreaming excels.
When livestream hosts use exaggerated language and intense emotional expressions, casually chatting with consumers behind the camera like friends, or engaging through commands like typing "Tap 1" or "+1" in the comments, and hosting time-limited giveaways, the immediate sense of urgency, anticipation, and participation is something traditional e-commerce can never replicate. This creates a much stronger impulse for consumers to think, "Alright, I’ll just buy it!" in the heat of the moment.
2. Cross-platform Livestreaming Becomes The Mainstream: It’s No Longer About “Where To Livestream”, But “Where And Who To Interact With”
Business Next points out that while e-commerce still maintains growth, the growth rate of pure e-commerce platforms (like momo, Shopee, PChome) is only about 1.9%, which is far lower than the rapid surge during the pandemic. As the e-commerce ecosystem becomes more diverse and shopping scenarios more fragmented, brands can no longer rely on a single platform to dominate the market.
The same goes for livestreaming. In the past, people were used to streaming regularly on Facebook or Shopee, but now consumer behavior has become highly fragmented: they might follow a brand on Instagram, watch unboxing livestreams on Facebook, grab deals on Shopee, or even interact with brands on LINE. It’s the same consumer, but their purchasing motivations, ways of interacting, and even viewing moods vary across different platforms.
By 2026, livestream marketing will no longer be about simply "choosing a platform to livestream on." Instead, it will be about considering:
Where to speak? Who to speak to? How to speak?
After all, the audience, interaction pace, and content needs vary greatly across different platforms. With this in mind, AsiaKOL has also compiled the characteristics of Taiwan’s leading livestream platforms, helping brands tailor the most suitable cross-platform livestream strategy based on their industry and tone:
(1) Choosing A Live Streaming Platform And Team:
Pairing KOC Hosts With Professional Platforms Is The Starting Point Of Live Streaming Success
Based on years of client service experience, the AsiaKOL team has summarized the key to live-streaming marketing as follows: “Platforms determine where traffic flows, while hosts determine the warmth of interaction.” In 2026, in addition to selecting the right platform, choosing hosts who are well-suited to that platform is also a critical factor. There are three main principles for selecting hosts:
1. “Fan engagement rate” is a stronger predictor of conversion performance than follower count.
2. Micro-influencers (KOCs) typically have higher engagement rates and often generate more stable order conversions.
3. Well-trained brand employees can also become the most authentic and credible sales representatives.
According to a survey by the Institute for Information Industry (MIC), the live-streaming platforms most frequently watched by Taiwanese audiences, in order, are Facebook, momo, YouTube, LINE, and Shopee. Brands should select the most suitable platforms and host types based on their product characteristics and target audience profiles.
Manager Today once interviewed Chou Pin-Chun, CEO of the Wstyle Group. After starting out in e-commerce by selling apparel, Wstyle was able to surpass NTD 100 million in revenue within just three years of its founding, largely by cultivating a loyal group of “lunch-time live-stream viewers” through midday live broadcasts. Their most successful single session attracted up to 2.5 million viewers, delivering impressive results. Wstyle’s live-stream repurchase rate is as high as 70%, with annual revenue targeting NTD 1 billion. By building a professional live-streaming team of around 10 people, Wstyle has proven through tangible performance that live streaming is not merely a short-term promotional tactic, but a sustainable, long-term business strategy.
(2) New Live-Streaming Model for 2026: Micro-Influencers × Brand Employees in Parallel - “Story-Driven Live Streaming” Is the Content That Truly Sells
Live-streaming marketing in 2026 will officially enter the era of “decentralized commerce.” Brands will no longer rely solely on major KOLs. Instead, they will simultaneously activate KOCs (micro-influencers) together with internal brand employees or instructors, creating live-streaming lineups that are more authentic, more cost-efficient, and more closely aligned with consumers’ everyday lives.
This approach delivers three clear advantages:
1. More Flexible Collaboration Costs and Greater Authenticity
Micro-influencers and brand employees communicate in a natural, unpolished way, making it easier to earn viewers’ trust.
2. Content That’s Closer to Everyday Life
Real usage experiences, unboxing, product testing, and lifestyle-based demonstrations resonate more strongly than the overtly commercial tone often associated with large KOLs.
3. Building a Long-Term Content Matrix
Internal experts provide professionalism and depth, while KOCs deliver relatable, real-life scenarios. Running both in parallel creates a stable and sustainable content production pipeline.
On the other hand, audiences have long since become immune to “hard-sell live streams.” In the future, successful live-stream selling will not be about shouting the loudest, but about engaging content and stories worth sharing. New-generation live streaming will feel more like a program than a sales pitch. Key trends include:
● Integrating teaching, casual conversation, entertainment, or gamified interaction
● Embedding brand values into everyday life scenarios
● Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) to drive organic reach and word-of-mouth cycles
Business Next analysis points out that major celebrities and brand collaborations excel at storytelling through image and persona, while the strength of KOCs lies in bringing products back into real life. For example, @Diudiu333 sells seafood via Facebook live streams while chatting with viewers and sharing cooking tips. By connecting with audiences in the most down-to-earth way, she builds emotional bonds that ultimately generate million-level sales performance. The live-stream marketing trend in 2026 will no longer be about who shouts the loudest, but about who helps viewers see themselves—and that is who will create more “+1” purchases.
(3) A New Era of Live-Stream Marketing: Using AI to Connect the Final Mile of Sales
In this social media age where everyone has the potential to “go viral for 15 minutes”, brands must look beyond live-stream traffic alone. What truly matters is the ability to convert views into purchases, thereby generating real revenue. AsiaKOL has built a comprehensive live-stream marketing framework, combining AI-driven data recommendations with live-stream content strategy to help brands turn “viewers” into “buyers.”
In particular, through the SpotKOL Influencer AI Recommendation System, AsiaKOL leverages big data to scientifically identify the most suitable live-stream KOLs. At the same time, we provide end-to-end services—from live-stream strategy planning and script ideation to innovative social interaction design—ensuring that brand live streams are not only engaging to watch, but also capable of stimulating audience participation and driving purchasing intent.
Conclusion: Live Streaming Is Not a Campaign — It’s a Way to “Keep People Stay”
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, in its Overview of the Current Economic Situation, points out that the e-commerce industry has entered a “rigid demand phase” of stable growth. This stage requires the adoption of new retail models that integrate online and offline channels, along with proactive efforts in digital transformation and innovative sales or service models.
Today’s live streaming is no longer the old model of “go live today, sell once, and move on.” What audiences want is someone to chat with, something to learn, and stories worth listening to - ideally with the bonus of picking up good-value products along the way. If brands still treat live streaming purely as a promotional tool, they are effectively giving up half of its true value.
In the coming live-streaming battleground, the brands that will go the distance are not those that shout the loudest, but those willing to build relationships with consumers through live streaming. The real value of live streaming lies in making viewers feel, “I want to come back and watch again.”
⭐“AsiaKOL Live Commerce” provides brands with a convenient and comprehensive live-selling model. Based on each brand’s needs, we use the AIE System to identify the most professional and influential KOLs. From initial live-stream theme planning to the live broadcast itself, order processing, and seller coordination, AsiaKOL delivers a fully integrated, end-to-end service, managing the entire process on behalf of the brand and turning live-stream traffic into revenue.► Learn More
