TikTok has taken another step in its intention to capitalize on its popularity by officially launching its e-commerce business in the United States.
The development comes after months of testing and represents another effort by the Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to expand its reach and offer its users an in-app shopping experience.
With more than 150 million users in the United States, TikTok intends to use its reach to enter the world of e-commerce.
The strategy is to offer users to watch videos and live streams and leverage that engagement to include links to purchase products directly from their feed, said Reuters.
This is consistent with the success of other platforms in Asia, such as PDD Holdings’ Shein and Temu.
One of the new features is the introduction of a tab in the app store.
This tab allows companies to showcase their products and offer logistics and payment solutions powered by TikTok.
Besides, TikTok integrates its shopping service with several third-party platforms, such as Shopify, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
This integration aims to facilitate the management of companies in their e-commerce operations and improve the user experience.
Next destinations for TikTok online store
TikTok’s expansion into online sales is a logical step in its evolution.
Although this feature has been developed in the United States since November, it is now available in many other countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and even the United Kingdom.
This global expansion is a clear sign of TikTok’s ambition to establish itself as a leading e-commerce platform in the world.
It is expected to soon reach Latin America, with Mexico as its main potential market.
TikTok’s move into e-commerce comes at a time when other social networks are also expanding their offerings to include online shopping.
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have developed their own in-app purchase features, allowing users buy products directly from their profiles.
Everyone is looking at Amazon
The e-commerce giant Amazon has set an industry standard and shown how the convenience of online shopping can transform the retail market.
Today, technology and social media companies are looking to take advantage of this trend to diversify their revenue streams and keep users on their platforms longer.
The success of TikTok in the field of e-commerce much will depend on your ability to attract brands, entrepreneurs and content creators.
The platform works closely with them to facilitate the creation of shoppable content, which can be a key point in their strategy.
