With Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance coming under increased revenue pressure, you should expect to hear more eCommerce pushes from the platform soon, as a means to capitalize on the app’s key opportunities. Fortunately, the latter is already happening in various ways, with its latest test seeing Indonesian users get access to a new ‘Shop’ tab that sits alongside its ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ Feeds.
Tik Take A Look Around
An example shared by Watchful.ai shows that Tik Tok is currently trying out a specific shop segment, with as much UI priority as its main content streams. There’s also a shopping cart option in the top right, allowing users to add items as they scroll, pointing to the likely next evolution of the world’s most popular app.
Tik Tok has been quietly moving in this direction for a while, essentially following the same development process ByteDance used for its Chinese sister – live commerce mega app Douyin. The majority of Douyin’s revenue now comes from its in-stream eCommerce integrations, which also offers a valuable pathway for creator monetization through brand partnerships that facilitate more organic promotions in the app.
Tik Tok is hoping to integrate the same into its offering, which might just allow it to evenly compete with the likes of Instagram and YouTube, at least in terms of creator monetization. Right now, creators can only really make big money on YouTube, thanks to its lauded Partner Program that allows it to pay out billions to its creators every year. This skewed creator monetization would eventually become an existential crisis for Tik Tok if it won’t take action, which is what spelled the doom for its predecessor, Vine. If it does go that route, then that could mean the de-prioritization of Tik Tok, which is why it needs to make integrated commerce work.
As noted, ByteDance would never shy away from more income, especially right now since it has cut thousands of employees over recent weeks as part of a major cost-cutting push, triggered by the Chinese Government’s regulatory crackdown on social media, gaming, and live-streaming sectors. Of course, these are measures by the CCP that simply work to give it more control. This has forced many to reassess their use of Douyin as a business opportunity, which has also put the squeeze on ByteDance’s other prospects. Amid a broader global economic downturn, ByteDance’s balance sheets suddenly don’t look as good as they did. Where it lost value in Douyin, Tik Tok now stands as the company’s most valuable opportunity, while it could also be looking to cash in on such now, before other nations follow China’s lead. Though these seem unlikely outside of China, certain nations still watch out for Tik Tok due to its affiliation with China. In the US, an FCC Commissioner calls for Tik Tok to be removed from both the Apple and Google app stores.
The Wrap
Essentially, Tik Tok’s future prospects aren’t guaranteed, which makes sense for ByteDance to push ahead now and take as much as it can from Tik Tok’s tools and features. Tik Tok is still working to fully integrate its full suite of commerce tools, including payment options and multiple commerce platform partnerships. All that we know is that Tik Tok is working quickly, which could provide more opportunities quickly, provided that it remains available, that is.
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