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Daily Express
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Express
Location doesn't matter anymore: TikTok Exec
Published on: Wednesday, July 16, 2025 Published on: Wed, Jul 16, 2025 By: Jessie Lee Text Size: Alan Chan, TikTok Asia-Pacific Managing Director, who previously led regional expansion for Alibaba and Lazada, shared his insights recently at Jesselton Quay Sky Gallery. Kota Kinabalu: Imagine launching a business, not in a mall, not on a high-traffic street, but in a quiet spot where walk-ins are rare. To most, that would sound like a mistake, but not to Alan Chan. The TikTok Asia-Pacific Managing Director who previously led regional expansion for Alibaba and Lazada shared his insights recently at Jesselton Quay Sky Gallery, here. Advertisement Through real-world lessons from his time in the digital trench, he made one thing clear – the way people discover businesses has changed. 'When I first went to China in 2010, Taobao was already the biggest app. And you know what is crazy? If you look at their homepage today, it is almost the same,' he said. China's largest online marketplace, he explained, has kept its interface largely unchanged despite a decade of digital innovation. This reflects what Alan calls a 'lean forward experience', where users are actively searching to shop. But platforms like TikTok are different as they represent a 'lean back experience', one where discovery happens while users are relaxing. He gave a personal example of buying a karaoke machine during a 20-minute ride home, after watching a TikTok livestream. 'I had no intention of buying one. But by the time I got home, I had already placed the order,' he said. The host sang live, answered questions in real time and showed how the machine worked with old TVs, enough to convert him from viewer to buyer. 'On TikTok, it is very vibrant, because you can see a lot of entrepreneurs. 'They can be students, homemakers or part-timers, but important to note here is that you need to pay to use them,' he said. Beyond its creator ecosystem, Alan said TikTok's monetisation model demands a shift in mindset. 'If you sell a bottle for RM100, the platform takes RM25,' he said, explaining that instead of spending big upfront, sellers only pay as sales come in. 'In the old way, you start a new brand, you spend RM1 million on advertising, outdoor, absolutely. But nowadays, you can plan it with your margin. So as you sell, you burn up. It is a different way of doing business,' he said. For sellers, the next step is choosing how to drive that discovery. Alan compared livestreaming and short videos as core sales tools. 'Livestreams are high-converting, like 'lunch and dinner', but require more effort. The golden hour is 8pm to 10pm, that is when people buy,' he said. He said short videos, on the other hand, are like 'snacks', easier to scale and continue to perform over time, but both are important. Another key sales feature is TikTok's 'yellow bag', a shopping cart icon that lets users check out directly inside the app. 'On other platforms, you click out, copy links, message sellers, it is slower. 'On TikTok, conversion happens inside the content,' he said, adding that while these in-app tools boost speed, external chats add value to customer relationship management. Yet even with the right tools, for many businesses, content creation is a balancing act of cost, speed and ownership. '[Sometimes], you only pay the rent, but the land is not yours,' Alan said, referring to how some may pay for videos they do not fully own when working with external creators, at times facing the risk of sample loss. He shared how sellers in China are turning to AI as one shoot can generate dozens of videos with different selling points, targeting different buyers with the same video. During the Q&A session, Alan encouraged local businesses to position themselves on platforms like Douyin and Meituan which travellers often consult before even booking their flights. 'If your customers are coming from China, advertise where they are, before they even leave,' he said. For Alan, success comes down to platform strategy and execution, not just location. With the right content, visibility and mindset, he believes location is no longer the barrier it once was. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Bangkok Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Thailand tightens e-commerce control
Government agencies have further tightened oversight of digital platforms and products available via online channels to ensure consumer benefit and prevent sales of subpar products. The Royal Gazette published on July 9 an announcement of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency's (ETDA) name list of 19 high impact digital platforms that are required to comply with Section 20 of the existing Digital Platform Services (DPS) royal decree. The announcement came into effect as of July 10. Section 20 of the law obliges these platforms to conduct a business risk assessment and risk management. These platforms sell or advertise products subject to official standards and fall under special compliance rules due to their potential risks to economic stability, financial security and the public's trust in digital systems. These platforms include Shopee, Lazada, Grab, SIA E-Auction System, LINE Shopping, Alibaba, NocNoc and AliExpress. The others are Thisshop, Rakmao, Taobao, SCGHome, ONESIAM Application, ReadyPlastic Auction, ROOTS Platform, Temu and eBay. The name list will be reviewed on an annual basis. In a related matter, the ETDA and its partners are continuing the campaign aimed at suppressing fraudulent and illegal online ads. According to the ETDA, such ads resulted in damage valued at over 19 billion baht last year. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Lazada, Shopee and LINE Shopping have joined forces to utilise the application programming interface system to prevent the sale of unauthorised health products. Surachoke Tangwiwat, secretary-general of the FDA, said it has also partnered with the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University and the Institute of Field Robotics at King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi, to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of detecting advertisements for smuggled or unlabelled health products with high efficiency. The project is also supported by the World Health Organization's Thailand office. According to the Public Health Ministry, these initiatives mark a crucial step forward in strengthening consumer protection in the digital era. These efforts integrate technology, policy and cross-sector collaboration to build public trust that health products purchased via e-commerce are safe and meet quality standards.
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
Taiping housewife loses over RM140,000 to ‘task scam'
IPOH: A housewife from Taiping was left devastated after losing RM144,558 to a so-called 'task scam' in early March. Taiping police chief ACP Mohamad Nasir Ismail said the 46-year-old victim lodged a police report on July 9 after realising she had been duped by the syndicate. 'Initial investigations revealed that the victim was contacted via the Telegram app by several individuals who offered her online jobs. 'She was tasked with following several accounts on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada to boost their profile visibility, and was promised payments of RM5 to RM8 per task, depending on the views and ratings,' he said in a statement. Mohamad Nasir said that although the victim received payment notifications after completing each task, the funds could not be accessed or withdrawn. 'The victim was later told she had allegedly committed an error on a task and was required to make payments to recover her Shopee and Lazada accounts,' he said. He said the victim subsequently made 22 transactions to 12 different accounts as instructed by the suspect, but her accounts were never returned. 'After the last transaction, the victim was again asked to make another deposit, but nothing materialised and the truth finally dawned on the victim that she had been scammed,' he said. He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. – Bernama
Barnama
4 days ago
- Barnama
Taiping Housewife Loses Over RM140,000 To 'Task Scam'
IPOH, July 13 (Bernama) -- A housewife from Taiping was left devastated after losing RM144,558 to a so-called 'task scam' in early March. Taiping police chief ACP Mohamad Nasir Ismail said the 46-year-old victim lodged a police report on July 9 after realising she had been duped by the syndicate. 'Initial investigations revealed that the victim was contacted via the Telegram app by several individuals who offered her online jobs. 'She was tasked with following several accounts on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada to boost their profile visibility, and was promised payments of RM5 to RM8 per task, depending on the views and ratings,' he said in a statement. Mohamad Nasir said that although the victim received payment notifications after completing each task, the funds could not be accessed or withdrawn. 'The victim was later told she had allegedly committed an error on a task and was required to make payments to recover her Shopee and Lazada accounts,' he said. He said the victim subsequently made 22 transactions to 12 different accounts as instructed by the suspect, but her accounts were never returned. 'After the last transaction, the victim was again asked to make another deposit, but nothing materialised and the truth finally dawned on the victim that she had been scammed,' he said. He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Taiping housewife loses over RM140,000 to scam
IPOH: A housewife from Taiping was left devastated after losing RM144,558 to a so-called 'task scam' in early March. Taiping police chief ACP Mohamad Nasir Ismail said the 46-year-old victim lodged a police report on July 9 after realising she had been duped by the syndicate. "Initial investigations revealed that the victim was contacted via the Telegram app by several individuals who offered her online jobs. "She was tasked with following several accounts on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada to boost their profile visibility, and was promised payments of RM5 to RM8 per task, depending on the views and ratings,' he said in a statement. Mohamad Nasir said that although the victim received payment notifications after completing each task, the funds could not be accessed or withdrawn, "The victim was later told she had allegedly committed an error on a task and was required to make payments to recover her Shopee and Lazada accounts,' he said. He said the victim subsequently made 22 transactions to 12 different accounts as instructed by the suspect, but her accounts were never returned. "After the last transaction, the victim was again asked to make another deposit, but nothing materialised and the truth finally dawned on the victim that she had been scammed,' he said. He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. - Bernama
