TikTok To Launch Online Shopping In The US
TikTok is seeking partners to launch an online shopping offering in the US as the company needs to outsource these features.
The short video app is in talks with California-based TalkShopLive to provide the infrastructure for online shopping on TikTok, according to the Financial Times. This technology will allow creators and brands to sell products through videos on the platform. TalkShopLive charges sellers a 10% commission for providing their services, and TikTok will likely cover those costs early on in the project.
There may be a misunderstanding, because TikTok does not run a classic online store or marketplace with product cards or elements inherent in direct online sales. This is still Live shopping (aka life streaming, streaming, live shopping and live commerce – live sales, teleshopping transferred to other sites).
TikTok began offering e-commerce features last year, partnering with Shopify to allow business accounts to integrate their catalogs into a dedicated tab on their profiles. In addition, the company has provided brands with tools to create, launch and monitor advertising campaigns on the platform. In June, TikTok also began testing a dedicated store feed to highlight products sold by sellers on the app.
The company has been testing its online shopping product in the UK since last year, its first market outside of Asia to test the feature. However, a July report by the Financial Times said the project fell short of the company’s expectations, and it reconsidered expanding online shopping to other countries such as the US and Germany.
