TikTok may seem like an unstoppable global entertainment machine, but at least one part of the company’s offering isn’t completely in control: TikTok is scaling back its live commerce plans in Europe and the United States, Financial Times mentionedafter early launches simply did not work.
TikTok has been testing direct shopping in the UK since late last year, starting with a multi-brand event called “TikTok”.in the directionLast December. But theft She mentioned that these shopping live streams did not attract large audiences and did not generate many sales, and that some of the creators involved in early TikTok Shop projects had pulled out entirely. TikTok had been planning to roll out Shop in Germany, France, Italy and Spain so far, and had hoped to launch it in the US later this year, but has now been told theft He is currently focused solely on making the product work in the UK. It also lives in many countries in Asia, where the concept is more mature.
Direct online shopping, led by creators and influencers, is a huge business for TikTok owner, ByteDance. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok also owned by ByteDance, has seen these direct sales turn into mega cultural events bringing big business to retailers, creators and platforms alike.
But so far, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that a live e-commerce model will work everywhere. Sure, QVC and the home shopping network have made huge successes in the US, more and more users are buying products through Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, but many platforms have tried to make direct shopping work and none of them have succeeded so far. Additionally, as social shopping continues to grow, the competition to be home to that shopping will be fierce. even amazon Invest heavily in shopping flows!
However, you should not rule out TikTok. The app continues to be a hub of culture, with an increasingly large number of people spending their time and money. There’s no doubting TikTok’s commitment to the idea, either: The company has been building and testing personalized shopping experiences for more than a year, and is currently TikTok Store Tab Test In the application in Indonesia. If any company could do a direct social shopping business outside of Asia, it would probably be TikTok. But that’s a big deal then.
