TikTok Live Selling Reshapes Retail In The Philippines.

PULILAN, PHILIPPINES - JUNE 26: A worker prepares the live feed for a skincare brand on TikTok Shop at one of the studios of Ownline Marketing on June 26, 2024 in Pulilan, Bulacan province, Philippines. Ownline Marketing, an agency that specializes in marketing brands on TikTok Shop and other e-commerce platforms, began only early this year with just one client but has quickly expanded to serving more than a dozen local and foreign brands, operating full production studios and delivering slick livestreams reminiscent of television home shopping channels. TikTok Shop, the e-commerce platform within the popular short video app, has spurred a booming live selling industry in the Philippines, where businesses are benefiting from TikTok's prized algorithm to sell more and faster, disrupting the market for other established e-commerce platforms in the region. However, a proposed bill in the Philippine Congress, House Bill 10489, introduced amid geopolitical tensions with China and following similar moves by other countries, aims to ban "foreign adversary-controlled" apps, likely targeting TikTok and could threaten the livelihoods of many Filipinos who have built their businesses on the platform​​​​. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)