The Tiktok app is pushing to promote its e-commerce capabilities in the hopes of recreating the success with its users in other markets around the world including China. Reports suggest Tiktok will partner with established live shopping network TalkShopLive.
TalkShopLive hosts live shopping streams for a number of products and has gained popularity by leveraging partnerships with well known celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Alicia Keys and more. And the practice has experienced success- The platform noted broadcasts were increasing at a rate of around 85% month-over-month.
TikTok is also partnering with influencer agencies to gain support of this commerce feature from popular social media influencers.
According to Rest of World,
“TikTok is partnering with influencer agencies around the world, hoping to build a robust live community with a culture of gifting that can become the app’s next revenue stream. Rest of World spoke to agents based in China, the Middle East, the U.S., and the U.K. — all of whom confirmed that they’re working with TikTok to train their community in the best way to gain an audience, and solicit gifts.”
Tiktok had very little success with the same project in the UK, reportedly eventually giving up on the market. However, there has been success in other markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and most of all China. Tiktok’s Chinese version, Douyin, generated $119 billion worth of product sales via live broadcasts in 2021, a 7x increase year-over-year. Overall, the Chinese live-stream commerce sector brought in over $300 billion in 2021, which is almost half of the entire US retail eCommerce market.
With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why Tiktok is eager to break out into other markets. If it can be successful in the US, who knows what astronomical sales numbers are to follow.
