Singapore agencies and TikTok training workers for retail jobs in live-streaming era
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Home-grown lifestyle brand Osim runs live streams on TikTok Shop, which it says encourage customers to visit stores to test products.
ST PHOTO: VIHANYA RAKSHIKA
SINGAPORE – It is no longer enough for retail workers to be able to sell a product to customers in person – they now need the skills to do so in front of a camera for a live-streaming audience, as well as to read viewers’ reactions and track sales in real time.
To learn to do all of this, a group of 36 local retail workers attended a one-day social commerce course run by TikTok Shop Singapore in January.
The pilot run, led by Workforce Singapore (WSG), marks an early step in preparing workers for new roles emerging in the sector. The next course is slated for April.
Such training programmes are part of a broader push to reskill the retail workforce, underpinned by a collaboration between the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA), TikTok Shop Singapore and WSG, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on March 30.
TikTok Shop is an e-commerce feature on ByteDance’s TikTok app.
The three parties will work together to develop social commerce solutions, training programmes and supporting infrastructure to boost the sector’s competitiveness and digital readiness.
The MOU was signed at the SRA Retail Forum 2026 at Raffles Hotel Singapore.
Speaking at the event, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Alvin Tan said: “We are here to chart the future of an industry that keeps our neighbourhoods and commercial districts full of life.
As social commerce has been “supercharged”, “retailers... must embrace digital transformation” to keep up, he added.
Separately, the Singapore Furniture Industries Council and SRA also signed an MOU on March 30 to strengthen workforce capabilities across the furniture and retail sectors, focusing on areas such as live streaming, artificial intelligence and evolving consumer behaviour.
The WSG, SRA and TikTok initiative covers the full spectrum of social commerce operations – from planning and content creation to live engagement, sales conversion and post-stream analysis.
It also focuses on three emerging roles: hosts who present products on camera, leads who manage sales strategy and engineers who oversee technical execution.
Speaking to The Straits Times, SRA president Ernie Koh said live streaming is not limited to younger workers and is “ageless”.
“During Covid-19, many (from) older generations went online and moved into a more online lifestyle,” he said.
He added that mature employees can still contribute in different ways. “Older employees don’t necessarily have to be the live-streaming hosts. They can also focus on other roles, such as social commerce lead or engineer.”
Mr Leon Koh, TikTok Shop Singapore’s fashion cluster lead and head of seller management, said TikTok offers retailers a bigger pool of people on the ground to connect with.
He added that Singapore’s high mobile penetration supports this shift.
While Mr Koh noted that smaller brands may face challenges in entering the social commerce space – in areas such as manpower, resources and time – he said that “one person is enough to live-stream”.
“All they would need is a tripod, a phone and a presenter with some of the products,” he said.
(From left) WSG’s acting director of trade and lifestyle Terence Ong, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Alvin Tan, SRA president Ernie Koh and Mr Matt Xu, country head of TikTok Shop Singapore, at the signing of a memorandum of understanding on March 30.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE RETAILERS ASSOCIATION
A structured programme can flatten the learning curve, he added.
Some brands are already seeing the benefits of social commerce. Shiseido Singapore, which began live streaming in 2025, turned to social commerce as consumer behaviour shifted online. It also sells on e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee.
Senior general manager Christine Goh said the company recognised that it could not rely on a single platform.
“Live streaming on TikTok Shop gave the brand good sales spikes during big retail moments such as Black Friday sales. The social ecosystem has changed,” she said.
She added that live streaming requires significant preparation: “Sometimes it could take a while to set up and complete a live stream – it could take hours. And there needs to be a story told.”
Home-grown lifestyle brand Osim has also leaned into live streaming, starting in 2025.
“Our sales staff are the ones doing the live streams, and it gives (them) room to explain the products. (Live streaming) also encourages people to go to the store directly to test products and make purchases,” said Ms Lynn Tan, Osim’s second deputy chief executive.
