TikTok is about to add fresh colors to its TikTok Shop feature for real-time shopping in North America using third-party technology, The Financial Times reports. It is reportedly teaming up with influential brands next month to take advantage of holiday shopping.
TikTok Shop is a copy of the same function of the Chinese TikTok analog – Douyin. It is available in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The app was launched last year in the U.K., the only country where it is available outside of Asia.
A similar feature on Douyin reportedly provided 9 million live e-commerce streams per month. In a single year, from May 2021 to May 2022, more than 10 billion items were sold, triple that of the previous year. However, TikTok Shop hasn’t fared as well in the U.K. Because of this, TikTok has postponed its planned launch in other European countries.
The underlying technology is expected to be provided by TalkShopLive, a U.S. company that will also support live streaming by influencers and brands. However, according to the FT, it’s all just at the level of discussions and verbal agreements.
TikTok neither denied nor confirmed the upcoming availability in the U.S. “When it comes to market expansion for TikTok Shop we are always guided by demand and are constantly exploring new and different options for how we can best serve our community, creators and merchants in markets around the world,” the company told the FT. “These efforts include exploring partnerships which further support a seamless ecommerce experience for merchants, which is an important part of our ecosystem.”
