TikTok Shop for items from video posts.
TikTok Shop for items from video posts is the next step the Chinese company takes in expanding product sales directly from the app.
TikTok is experimenting with a feature that has the ability to make items from video posts available for purchase. This move is part of the company's plans to turn TikTok Shop into a billion-dollar e-commerce business in the United States. TikTok has confirmed that this feature is currently in limited testing, but has not provided further details.
The new test feature automatically identifies items in videos and directs users to "find similar items on TikTok Shop." In the past, only approved influencers and brands had the ability to tag products. The new feature would bring e-commerce links into more videos on the app.
The news comes in the context of Bloomberg reporting a few weeks ago that TikTok aims to grow its TikTok Shop business tenfold in the US, to $17,5 billion this year. With this goal, TikTok would not only seek to compete with Amazon, but also with other Chinese-owned companies such as Temu and Shein, which have become popular in the US. But TikTok has something these other companies don't have, namely an extremely popular social network that has the potential to reach millions of shoppers.
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During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday season in November, more than 5 million new customers in the US made a purchase through TikTok Shop. For context, the social media app currently has about 150 million users in the US.
TikTok Shop for items from video posts.
TikTok Shop, officially launched in the US in September 2023, allows creators to tag products to allow users to purchase products from streaming videos and live videos. The new feature would bring links TikTok Shop to regular content on the app, which might not be a welcome change for some.
New data reveals that TikTok's growth has begun to slow, raising questions about whether its e-commerce efforts TikTok Shop could be to blame. In 2022, TikTok's monthly active users grew by an average of 12% annually per quarter, but this figure fell to 3% annually per quarter in 2023. The slowdown comes after the launch TikTok Shop in the USA.
People debated online whether TikTok Shop "destroyed" the application, some lamenting the fact that TikTok Shop turn the application into a "desert full of ads".
In addition to bringing links TikTok Shop In several videos on the platform, TikTok also explores other ways to boost its e-commerce business. The News reported today that TikTok plans to open studios in Los Angeles where creators can live stream and sell products. Creators currently record promotional videos on their own equipment at home, but some of them will soon have the option to shoot and stream content from studios operated by TikTok.
