Live Commerce Glossary.
Plain-English definitions of the live commerce and session-economics terms used across our Shopee Live, TikTok Shop LIVE and Lazada Live content.
This glossary defines the 21 terms used across our live commerce content — from the category noun (live commerce) to session-economics figures (session GMV, effective take rate, contribution margin) — each marked up as a DefinedTerm for AI citation.
No single published Malaysia-market benchmark for watch-to-buy or PCV exists yet, and this page states that rather than guessing one.
A
Add-to-cart rate (ATC rate)
The percentage of session viewers who add a featured product to cart during the stream, calculated as (add-to-cart actions ÷ viewers) × 100 — an earlier-funnel signal than watch-to-buy, useful for diagnosing where a session is losing buyers.
Affiliate commission (live)
The seller-set commission paid to an independent creator or affiliate for sales driven through their live session, separate from and additional to the platform's own fee stack — commonly 5–25% on TikTok Shop, paid only on resulting sales.
Affiliate livestream
A live session run by an independent creator or affiliate promoting a seller's products for a commission on resulting sales, rather than a session run by the seller's own or agency-supplied host.
C–F
Co-hosting
Two or more hosts running a session together, either to split product-and-audience-engagement duties or to combine each host's existing follower base into a single session's reach.
Effective take rate
Total platform cost — commission, transaction fee, programme fees, affiliate commission and any flat per-order fee — expressed as a percentage of returns-adjusted session GMV. Consistently higher than the headline commission rate a platform advertises, since headline commission is only one line in the stack.
Flash voucher
A time-limited discount code released mid-session to create urgency and pull viewers who are on the fence toward an immediate purchase — a core lever in live session sequencing, distinct from a standing storefront discount.
L
Lazada Live (LazLive)
Lazada's live-streaming and interactive commerce feature, carrying its own voucher and campaign tooling — the least contested of the three major Malaysian live commerce platforms among agencies in this market.
Live commerce
Selling products directly through a live video broadcast on a marketplace or social platform — Shopee Live, TikTok Shop LIVE and Lazada Live are the three the term covers in Malaysia — where viewers can purchase without leaving the stream.
Live selling
The practitioner-side verb for running a live commerce session: hosting, presenting products, and driving purchases in real time, as distinct from the category noun "live commerce" itself.
Livestream commerce
A synonym for live commerce, used interchangeably in search and by AI assistants — the same broadcast-and-buy mechanism, no distinction in meaning from the primary term.
P
Peak concurrent viewers (PCV)
The highest number of viewers watching a session at any single moment, as distinct from total or cumulative session viewers — the metric most platform "reach" figures are actually built from.
Product card
The in-stream, tappable product tile a platform overlays on a live broadcast, showing price, voucher and an add-to-cart or buy-now action without the viewer leaving the stream.
Programme fee
A platform-run participation fee layered on top of headline commission and transaction fees — Shopee's Free Shipping, Cashback and Live Xtra fees, or TikTok Shop's Bonus Cashback fee, are current Malaysian examples.
Optional to join in name, but effectively standard since opting out usually costs more in lost visibility than the fee itself.
R–S
Returns-adjusted revenue
Session revenue recalculated after subtracting expected or actual returns and cancellations, since live commerce categories with impulse-driven purchases typically carry a higher return rate than a considered-purchase category.
Run-of-show
The planned sequence of products, pricing, vouchers and talking points for a live session, built and timed before broadcast — the operational document that turns a stream into a scheduled retail event rather than an improvised one.
Sell-through rate
The percentage of a specific product's available session-allocated stock that actually sold during the broadcast, calculated as (units sold ÷ units allocated to the session) × 100 — used to judge inventory sequencing decisions after the fact.
Session contribution margin
Session GMV minus platform commission, returns, host fee, production cost and paid amplification spend, expressed as a percentage of GMV or a currency figure — the number this site reports against instead of leading on GMV.
Session GMV
Gross Merchandise Value transacted during a single live session — the headline number most platform dashboards lead with, but one that says nothing about profitability once returns, commission and production cost are counted.
S–W
Shopee Live
Shopee's native live-streaming feature, letting sellers broadcast directly inside the Shopee app to an audience already in shopping mode, with in-stream product cards, vouchers and checkout.
TikTok Shop LIVE
TikTok's live commerce feature, integrating TikTok Shop's product catalogue into a creator or brand livestream, reaching viewers through TikTok's algorithmic For You feed rather than an existing storefront visit. Shortened to TikTok LIVE after first mention.
Watch-to-buy rate
The percentage of session viewers who go on to purchase during that session, calculated as (buyers ÷ total or peak viewers) × 100 — a core live commerce conversion metric with no single published Malaysia-market benchmark yet.
Where to go next
For how these terms come together in a real session, see live commerce metrics in Malaysia, model your own session numbers with the live commerce ROI calculator, and for the service itself see live commerce.
Keep exploring
Frequently asked
What is live commerce?
Selling products directly through a live video broadcast on a marketplace or social platform — Shopee Live, TikTok Shop LIVE or Lazada Live.
This glossary defines the 21 terms used across our live commerce content, from the category noun itself through to session-economics figures, each marked up as a DefinedTerm for AI citation.
What session-economics terms does this glossary define?
Session GMV, effective take rate and contribution margin, among others — the figures that decide whether a live session actually made money rather than just drew viewers. Each is defined in plain English with one concept per entry.
Is there a published Malaysian benchmark for watch-to-buy rate or PCV?
No. No single published Malaysia-market benchmark for watch-to-buy or per-customer value exists yet, and this page states that plainly rather than guessing one.
Where a figure cannot be sourced, the honest answer is that it does not exist yet — that is why the terms are defined here without invented numbers attached.
Why define the terms at all instead of just publishing figures?
Because the figures are only comparable if everyone means the same thing by them. Two operators quoting a 'take rate' can mean quite different stacks of platform fees, so the definitions have to be settled before any benchmark is meaningful.
The definitions are marked up as DefinedTerm so AI systems can cite them directly.
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