TikTok continues expanding its Shop initiative, which enables brands to sell their products directly within the app with a full checkout experience. The testing phase of TikTok Shop began in the US in November 2021, and it has now been reported that brands such as PacSun, Revolve, Willow Boutique, and KimChi Chic are part of the experiment. To view the products of these brands, users can tap on the shopping bag icon on the company’s profile and complete the checkout process without leaving the TikTok App.
TikTok Shop has been available in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore for nearly a year. While it was already reported that the company had dropped plans to launch it in the US and Europe, it is pushing ahead with testing in the US.
TikTok has also invested in other shopping features, such as a collaboration with Instacart in March 2021 that allowed food creators to make shoppable lists linked to recipe videos. The app later introduced a shopping feed in select markets in June 2021 and experimented with live shopping in the UK and several Southeast Asian countries.
While TikTok continues to work on expanding its shopping features, its competitors are scaling back their e-commerce efforts. Instagram removed its shop tab in January 2022 and has now dropped its live shopping feature, while Facebook shut down its live shopping feature in August 2022. Amazon has experimented with live shopping in various markets, and YouTube introduced new live shopping features in May 2021. Still, reports suggest that social commerce in the US accounts for just 5% of e-commerce sales.
However, video content on TikTok is known to drive impulse purchases, and in-app shopping features could make these purchases trackable for brands and businesses. The phrase “TikTok made me buy it” has become popular on the app, with 7.4 billion views, and a hashtag with 42.6 billion views. It’s possible that e-commerce transactions may not take place immediately through direct links shared by brands or creators, but the video content or brand’s ad may serve to drive a sale at a later date.
There is a potential for shopping features on social media to influence purchasing decisions, even if the conversion doesn’t happen immediately. TikTok Shop’s integration with the app could offer a more seamless and native shopping experience, driving more sales and making them trackable for brands and businesses.
TikTok’s push towards shopping features is part of a larger trend of social media platforms looking to tap into the e-commerce market. While the success of these features in the US and other Western markets is yet to be seen, the cultural differences in how apps are used may play a role. Nonetheless, TikTok’s early efforts to integrate shopping features into its app could put the company ahead of its competitors in the long run.
As the world of e-commerce continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Social Media platforms, retailers, and brands continue to adapt and innovate to create new shopping experiences for consumers. With the potential for trackable sales and the ability to influence purchasing decisions through video content, it’s clear that social commerce is a trend here to stay.
