While its in-app shopping experience hasn’t caught on as much as it would’ve wanted, TikTok continues to slowly expand its in-app shopping options, making in-stream commerce a bigger focus, with the platform launching the first stage of its ‘TikTok Shops’ integration in the US late last week.
A First…
As seen in this example, TikTok Shops live on profiles, in a separate tab, where users can browse products and even make purchases without having to exit the app. TikTok initially launched Shops in the UK last year, then in Southeast Asia soon after, but it hasn’t become an all-encompassing commerce solution just yet. In the UK, the Shops rollout was littered with issues, which were worsened by internal staff management and unachievable incentive targets. This has forced TikTok to scale back its expansion plans in Europe, but now, it’s instead making that move into the US market, which much just be the more lucrative choice.
That is, if they can get it right.
The launch of Shops with select US brands is the latest of several steps that TikTok’s taking to make in-stream shopping a bigger focus. TikTok has also been working to highlight shopping live streams to boost commerce engagement, while, even more interestingly, it has been recruiting for jobs in US-based fulfillment centers, which would provide streamlined delivery and returns for customers.
That could be a big step in building the platform into an eCommerce giant, optimizing delivery performance and response, based on sales activity in the app. Ideally, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance will be looking to replicate the success that it’s seen with in-stream commerce in China, with TikTok’s Chinese version, Douyin, now generating the majority of its revenue from direct sales in the app. On Douyin, eCommerce is already well-embedded, with various dedicated presentation features and discovery elements designed to drive shopping activity.
TikTok is following a similar path, in that it has already become a key discovery platform among younger audiences, who often now search for products and businesses in the app, as opposed to switching to Google. If TikTok can marry this behavioral shift with enhanced shop displays, that could be a gold mine for the app, as it has been in China, which would facilitate revenue growth both for ByteDance and for TikTok creators.
The Wrap
It remains to be seen whether Western audiences will ever be as receptive to in-app shopping as their Asian counterparts, but TikTok’s clearly making a bigger push, which could soon transform your in-app experience, while also opening new potential for brands, under one condition – only if it works. That’s a pretty steep and one-sided deal, but if TikTok is willing to bet on such, then it must somehow believe that the conversion of Western markets is still possible.
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