According to The Financial Times, TikTok intends to bring its live shopping “TikTok Shop” feature to North America via outsourced technology.
It’ll reportedly be launched “over the next month with large brands” to take advantage of holiday shopping.
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TikTok Shop, which is available in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia, is based on a similar, successful feature on TikTok’s sister app Douyin in China. It first became available outside of Asia in the United Kingdom last year.
According to reports, a similar feature on Douyin hosted 9 million live ecommerce broadcasts per month, selling over 10 billion products in a single year from May 2021 to May 2022 — more than triple what it did the previous year.
TikTok Shop, on the other hand, does not appear to have fared as well in the UK, and as a result, TikTok has postponed a planned launch elsewhere in Europe.
The underlying technology will allegedly be provided by TalkShopLive, a US company that will also support livestreams hosted by influencers and brands.
According to the Financial Times, the agreements are still being negotiated and “no contracts have been signed.”
The underlying technology will allegedly be provided by TalkShopLive, a US company that will also support livestreams hosted by influencers and brands.
The agreements are still under discussion and “no contracts have been signed,” according to the FT.
TikTok didn’t deny or confirm upcoming US availability. “When it comes to market expansion for TikTok Shop we are always guided by demand and are constantly exploring new and different options for how we can best serve our community, creators and merchants in markets around the world,” the company told the FT.
“These efforts include exploring partnerships which further support a seamless ecommerce experience for merchants, which is an important part of our ecosystem.”
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The news comes just one day after Facebook dropped its own Live Shopping feature. Facebook is now requesting that merchants showcase their products through Reels, Reels ads, and product tagging on Instagram Reels.
TikTok began testing a Shopping tab last year, allowing business users to add their profiles, sync their product catalogues, and link to their online stores. It has also previously experimented with live shopping in the United States, most notably with Walmart.