In May 2021, Bloomberg announced that TikTok was thinking about stepping up a gear in e-commerce and could enter the arena. The move has been underway since September 2021. Imitating its competitors Instagram and Facebook, the Chinese social network is launching product transactions on its platform.
The Promising Collaboration
Named TikTok Shopping, the service is penetrating markets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom and will expand in other regions next year. This new functionality will allow merchants to boost their sales and engage with potential customers. Sellers will be able to create mini-stores on TikTok and include their products' links directly in videos. However, only Shopify merchants, who are part of an exclusive program, can use this option, which will likely be available to more users.
TikTok Shopping is the result of a collaboration between Shopify and Tiktok. This partnership began last February and gave the sellers operating on Shopify the opportunity to drive marketing campaigns on TikTok. The collaboration would provide a win-win benefit for the two giants and help the Chinese social networking company encourage sellers to join its platform for business purposes.
From a Phenomenon to a Key Player
TikTok became a real craze, going beyond its original market segment, and particularly, its first plan to focus on adolescent customers. As a turning point, the platform became the most downloaded application in the world, ahead of Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger in August. Its e-commerce service is a great tool that will allow monetizing this growing popularity further. On the Shopify side, TikTok promotes the stores of its merchants and strengthens its position as an e-commerce leader.
Shopify is fundamentally an e-commerce platform that hosts online stores to help organize the layout of the store's appearance through various themes. Moreover, the company also offers payment processing, allowing sellers to accept and receive sales payments.
It is worth noting what the strategic response of Instagram and Facebook to this new competitor in the landscape of e-commerce on social networks will be. The year 2022 promises to be simultaneously profitable and challenging for those two social networks that must imperatively reinvent themselves to maintain their competitive position.
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