According to a story in The Information, TikTok plans to ban links to external e-commerce sites, although TikTok disputes this claim. According to the article, the business will use the move to force users who want to buy something seen on the app to do so through the TikTok Shop.
According to the study, TikTok Shop is expected to lose more than $500 million in the United States this year. The $500 million deficit reflected the company’s substantial costs in staffing, building a delivery network, and supporting retailers that provide discounts and free shipping.
If TikTok outlaws links to external e-commerce websites, it will follow the lead of its Chinese sister app Douyin, which in 2020 outlawed links to external e-commerce websites like Alibaba’s Taobao.
The rumors are thought to be a tactic that TikTok will use to increase sales on its TikTok Shop, which is currently not getting much attention. According to the survey, Americans are now spending between $3 million and $4 million per day on the TikTok shop, up from between $500,000 and $1 million per day in June. The TikTok team estimates that this amount will cross $10 million by the end of the year.
Southeast Asia, where the TikTok Shop is accessible from 2021, has seen far more success with it. The gross daily trading volume for TikTok Shop in Southeast Asia ranges from $50 million to $60 million. By the end of the year, TikTok plans to increase that number to around $90 million.
ByteDance wants TikTok to build a global online marketplace similar to Douyin, which sold more than $200 billion in goods in 2017. According to the information, the business expects TikTok to achieve comparable levels by 2028. Of the $200 billion, ByteDance estimates the United States will contribute $40 billion to $60 billion in revenue.
According to the report, TikTok is trying to get businesses to use its platform. For example, the company’s staff members look at the best-selling products on Amazon before contacting sellers and persuading them to join the TikTok shop by promising them no commission for the first three months.
TikTok recently announced that it is testing a new in-app “Trendy Beat” shopping section where it sells merchandise that is transmitted and sold by a subsidiary of ByteDance. TikTok Shop isn’t the only way the company aims to grow in e-commerce. Given that TikTok registered Trendy Beat as a trademark in the U.S. in May, the feature will likely be made available in the U.S. while it is currently in the U.K. I am being tested.
Known internally as “Project S,” ByteDance’s plan to start selling its wares on the video app uses information from TikTok about wares that are selling well there and ByteDance. Enables these goods to be purchased or manufactured. According to reports, ByteDance supplies these products through a network of suppliers.
The sentiment “TikTok made me buy it” has become common due to the video app’s ability to promote impulse purchases, despite the fact that TikTok’s e-commerce initiatives are still relatively new in the US. On TikTok, the word currently has 7.4 billion views, while the hashtag has 67 billion.
As TikTok promotes the TikTok Shop, the business revealed that its storefront product will be discontinued on September 12. In 2021, when TikTok’s e-commerce options were somewhat limited in the United States, shops were first introduced. Since the TikTok Shop is now open, TikTok no longer considers stores necessary.